Question

A pile of newspapers in Ms. McGrath’s art class was 17 3/4 inches high. Each consecutive week, for the next 5 weeks, the height of the pile of newspapers increased by 8 7/12 inches. What was the height, in inches, of the pile after 3 weeks?

Answer 1

Let

x--------> the number of weeks

y--------> the height of a pile of newspapers in inches

we know that

`17(3)/(4)=(17*4+3)/(4) =(71)/(4)`

`8(7)/(12)=(8*12+7)/(12) =(103)/(12)`

`y=(103)/(12)x+(71)/(4)`

To find the height after
`3` weeks

Let

`x=3\ weeks` and substitute in the equation

`y=(103)/(12)*3+(71)/(4)`

`y=(174)/(4)`

`y=43.5\ in`

`y=43(1)/(2) \ in`

therefore

the answer is

the height, in inches, of the pile after
`3` weeks is
`43(1)/(2) \ in`

Answer 2

If you would like to know what was the height, in inches, of the pile after 3 weeks, you can calculate this using the following steps:

17 3/4 inches + 3 * 8 7/12 inches = 71/4 + 3 * 103/12 = 213/12 + 309/12 = 522/12 = 87/2 = 43 1/2 inches

The correct result would be 43 1/2 inches.