Question

Charlotte has 15 1/3 feet of plastic pipe. She cuts off a 3 1/2-foot length and then a 2 1/4 length. If she now needs a 10-foot piece of pipe, will the remaining piece do? If not, by how much will the piece be short?

Answer 1

After subtracting the lengths of the two cuts from the original plastic pipe, it's determined that the remaining piece is 0.42 feet short for a 10-foot piece.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question involves Charlotte starting with 15 1/3 feet of plastic pipe. She cuts off two lengths from the original pipe, measuring 3 1/2 feet and 2 1/4 feet respectively. To solve whether the remaining piece of pipe will be enough for a 10-foot piece, we need to subtract the lengths of the cuts from the original length.

• Original length: 15 1/3 feet
  
• First cut: 3 1/2 feet
  
• Second cut: 2 1/4 feet
  

First, convert the mixed numbers to improper fractions to make subtraction easier:

• 15 1/3 = (15*3 + 1)/3 = 46/3 feet
  
• 3 1/2 = (3*2 + 1)/2 = 7/2 feet
  
• 2 1/4 = (2*4 + 1)/4 = 9/4 feet
  

Subtract the lengths of the cuts from the original length:

(46/3) - (7/2) - (9/4) = (92/6) - (21/6) - (13.5/6) = 57.5/6 feet

To see if the remaining length is sufficient for a 10-foot piece, we can compare it:

57.5/6 feet = 9.58 feet

Therefore, the remaining piece of pipe is short by 0.42 feet (or approximately 5 inches) for a 10-foot piece.