Question

a picture 10 1/4 feet long is to be centered on a wall that is 14 1/2 feet long. How much space is there from the edge of the wall to the picture? 

Answer 1

The answer is  2 1/8 feet

Answer 2

There is $2\frac{1}{8}$ feet space from the edge of the wall to the picture.

Explanation

The length of the picture is $10\frac{1}{4}$ ft and the length of the wall is $14\frac{1}{2}$ ft.

For finding the total space in both below and above the picture from the edge of the wall, we need to just subtract the length of the picture from the length of the wall. So...

$14\frac{1}{2}-10\frac{1}{4}\\ \\ = \frac{29}{2}-\frac{41}{4} \\ \\ =\frac{58-41}{4}= \frac{17}{4}$

As the picture in centered on the wall, so the spaces in both above and below the picture are equal.

So, the space from the edge of the wall to the picture $=\frac{17}{4} *\frac{1}{2} = \frac{17}{8}=2\frac{1}{8}$ feet