Question

Sherry has two rectangular garden plots at the Community garden. One plot measures 5 1/2 feet by 9 1/2 feet. The other plot measures 4 1/4 feet by 6 1/2 feet. How many total square feet does sherry have.

Answer 1

79 7/8 ft²

Explanation:

A calculator can take the tedium out of math with mixed numbers or fractions. (See below.)

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If you like the tedium or just need to practice your arithmetic with fractions, you can do it as follows.

First of all, you need to know that the area of a rectangular plot is the product of its length and width. So, we need to compute ...

(5 1/2)×(9 1/2) + (4 1/4)×(6 1/2)

You can do it as mixed numbers:

(45 +5/2 + 9/2 + 1/4) + (24 + 4/2 + 6/4 + 1/8) = 69 + 18/2 + 7/4 + 1/8

= 69 + 9 + 1 3/4 + 1/8 = 79 + 6/8 + 1/8 = 79 7/8

Or, you can do it by converting to improper fractions:

11/2×19/2 + 17/4×13/2 = 209/4 + 221/8 = (418 +221)/8 = 639/8 = 79 7/8

You can also do it using decimal numbers:

5.5×9.5 + 4.25×6.5 = 52.25 +27.625 = 79.875 = 79 7/8

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Dimensions are in feet, so the area is in square feet.