High School

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.

How many hours per week does Hector exercise?

___ hour(s) per week

Answer :

To determine how many hours per week Hector exercises, let's follow these steps:

1. Understand the Total Hours Exercised:
During a 4-week period, Hector exercises for a total of [tex]\( 11 \frac{1}{2} \)[/tex] hours. This is the total amount of time he spent exercising over those 4 weeks.

2. Convert Mixed Number to Decimal:
The mixed number [tex]\( 11 \frac{1}{2} \)[/tex] can be converted to a decimal by adding the whole number part to the fractional part as a decimal.
So, [tex]\( 11 \frac{1}{2} \)[/tex] hours is equivalent to [tex]\( 11 + 0.5 = 11.5 \)[/tex] hours.

3. Calculate Weekly Exercise Hours:
To find out how many hours Hector exercises per week, we need to divide the total hours by the number of weeks.

So, divide the total hours of exercise by the number of weeks:
[tex]\[
\text{Hours per week} = \frac{11.5 \text{ hours}}{4 \text{ weeks}}
\][/tex]

4. Perform the Division:
Calculate the division to find out the average number of hours Hector exercises each week.
[tex]\[
\text{Hours per week} = 2.875 \text{ hours per week}
\][/tex]

Therefore, Hector exercises approximately 2.875 hours per week. This is how we can compare his exercise rate to the fitness challenge rate of at least [tex]\( 2 \frac{1}{2} \)[/tex] hours per week.