Question

6. At the age of 5, Tom was 3 feet 4 inches tall. When he was 8 years old he was 4 feet tall. How many inches did Tom grow?Tom grew ____ inches.

Answer 1

`\begin{equation*} 8\text{ }inches \end{equation*}`

Step-by-step explanation

We want to find how many inches Tom grew.

To do this, first, convert the heights from feet/inches to inches. To convert from feet to inches, use the conversion rate:

`1\text{ }ft=12\text{ }in`

Therefore, the heights in inches are:

`\begin{gathered} 3\text{ }ft\text{ }4\text{ }in=(3*12)+4=36+4=40\text{ }in \\ 4\text{ }ft=4*12=48\text{ }in \end{gathered}`

The number of inches that Tom grew can be found by calculating the difference between the two heights.

That is:

`\begin{gathered} 48-40 \\ \Rightarrow8\text{ }inches \end{gathered}`

That is the answer.