Question

Hallie bikes 1 5/8 km before lunch and 6 1/4 km after lunch. How much farther does Hallie bike after lunch than before lunch? Express your answer as a mixed number in simplest form.

Answer 1

4
`(5)/(8)` km

Explanation:

To find how much farther Hallie biked after lunch compared to the amount she biked before lunch, we can subtract the amounts:

6
`(1)/(4)-1(5)/(8)`

However, we can only subtract fractions that have the same denominator, so we need to convert
`(1)/(4)` to a fraction with a denominator of 8:

`(1)/(4)=(2)/(8)`

Now, we can't subtract 2 from 8, so we need to 'borrow' from the 6 to make the fraction larger:

`6(2)/(8)=5(10)/(8)`

Now subtract:
`5(10)/(8)-1(5)/(8)=4(5)/(8)`