Question

Manuela has a piece of red ribbon 7 1/2 feet long. She cut the ribbon to have one piece 1 3/4 feet long.

How long is the piece of ribbon that is left?

Answer 1

the leftover piece of ribbon is 5 3/4 feet long.

Explanation:

if she has 7 1/2 feet of ribbon, and she removes (by cutting it off) 1 3/4 feet of ribbon.

So, if we set up this scenario like a math problem, we can write it as this:

7 1/2 feet of ribbon - 1 3/4 feet of ribbon = remaining ribbon

[ - = take away]

so, we are solving the equation:

7 1/2 - 1 3/4

To solve this, it is easiest to make the fractions have the same denominators

1 / 2 is equal to 2 / 4

However, 2/4 is less than 3/4, so we need to make this fraction a larger number.

To do this, we can take away 1 foot from the 7, and write it as if it were fourths

1 [foot] = 4/4 quarter foot

So, we can add 4/4 + 2/4 = 6/4

Now, we can re-write our situation.

6 6/4 - 1 3/4 = left over ribbon

6 6/4

- 1 3/4

__________

5 3/4

So, the leftover piece of ribbon is 5 3/4 feet long.

Hope this helps!