Hector's school is holding a fitness challenge. Students are encouraged to exercise at least [tex]2 \frac{1}{2}[/tex] hours per week. Hector exercises about the same number of hours each week. During a 4-week period, he exercises for [tex]11 \frac{1}{2}[/tex] hours. Hector wants to compare his exercise rate with the fitness challenge rate.

How many hours per week does Hector exercise?

[tex]\square[/tex] hour(s) per week

To find out how many hours per week Hector exercises, we need to divide the total number of hours he exercised by the number of weeks.

1. Determine the total hours Hector exercised over the 4-week period:
Hector exercised for [tex]$11 \frac{1}{2}$[/tex] hours over the entire period. This is the same as 11.5 hours when converted to a decimal.

2. Identify the number of weeks:
The number of weeks in the period is 4.

3. Calculate Hector’s average hours of exercise per week:
To find the average, divide the total hours by the number of weeks:
[tex]\[
\text{Hours per week} = \frac{11.5 \text{ hours}}{4 \text{ weeks}}
\][/tex]

4. Perform the division:
[tex]\[
\text{Hours per week} = 2.875
\][/tex]

Therefore, Hector exercises approximately 2.875 hours per week.