Question

A 15-minute TV program consists of one commercial of 1

1
4
minutes long, and two equal‐length entertainment segments. How long is each entertainment segment? Enter your answer as a mixed fraction.

Answer 1

6⅞ minutes

Explanation:

15 - 1¼

60/4 - 5/4

55/4

Each segment:

55/4 ÷ 2

55/8

(48 + 7)/8

6 ⅞

Answer 2

6 7/8 minutes

Explanation:

Say the entertainment segments are each x minutes long. Then, we have the equation:

x + x + 1 1/4 = 15

2x + 1 1/4 = 15

2x = 15 - 1 1/4

We need a common denominator. 1 1/4 = 5/4 and 15 = 60/4, so we now have:

60/4 - 5/4 = 55/4. Then: 2x = 55/4

Divide by 2 from both sides:

(55/4) / 2 = 55/8 = 6 7/8

Thus, each entertainment segment is 6 7/8 minutes long.

Hope this helps!