Interesting question about feet and inches. The best way to solve this problem is to ask yourself how many inches are in a foot. Since there are 12 inches in every foot then the length of 2'8" can be written as (2*12)" + 8". Which is 24+8 or 32 inches. The second number (1'6") can be written as (1*12)"+6" which is 18 inches. 32 + 18 = 50 inches. Or, if you want to change this back into feet and inches just divide it by 12. 50/12 is 4 R. 2. So 4'2".