High School

Jan spent [tex]$2 \frac{3}{4}$[/tex] hours doing homework last week. She spent [tex]$5 \frac{1}{4}$[/tex] hours doing homework this week. How many more hours did Jan spend on homework this week than last week?

Answer :

We start by writing the given mixed numbers as sums of whole numbers and fractions.

Jan spent
[tex]$$3\frac{3}{4} = 3 + \frac{3}{4}$$[/tex]
hours last week, and this week she spent
[tex]$$5\frac{1}{4} = 5 + \frac{1}{4}$$[/tex]
hours.

Next, we convert these mixed numbers into decimal form:
- For the last week:
[tex]$$3 + \frac{3}{4} = 3 + 0.75 = 3.75 \text{ hours}.$$[/tex]
- For this week:
[tex]$$5 + \frac{1}{4} = 5 + 0.25 = 5.25 \text{ hours}.$$[/tex]

Now, we subtract the total hours of last week from the total hours of this week to find the difference:
[tex]$$5.25 - 3.75 = 1.50 \text{ hours}.$$[/tex]

The difference can also be represented as a fraction. Since
[tex]$$1.50 = \frac{3}{2},$$[/tex]
we can write it as the mixed number
[tex]$$1\frac{1}{2} \text{ hours}.$$[/tex]

Thus, Jan spent
[tex]$$1.5 \text{ hours (or } 1\frac{1}{2} \text{ hours)}$$[/tex]
more on homework this week than last week.