Question

A sailboat travels a distance of 2 1/2 miles in 1/6 of an hour. Which complex fraction represents the unit rate in miles per hour?

Answer 1

Rewrite "2 1/2 miles" as the improper fraction (5/2) miles.
Divide this by (1/6) hour:

5
--
2

-------- (miles/hour)
1
--
6

To divide by the fraction 1/6, invert it and multiply. We get

5 6
-- (miles) * ------------ = (30/2) mph = 15 mph
2 1 hour