High School

Mary had \(\frac{3}{8}\) meters of ribbon. June's ribbon was 4 times as long as Mary's ribbon.

Find the total length of ribbon Mary and June had. Give your answer in meters.

Answer :

To find the total length of ribbon that Mary and June have, we first need to determine the length of June's ribbon.

  1. Mary's Ribbon: Mary had [tex]\frac{3}{8}[/tex] meters of ribbon.

  2. June's Ribbon: June’s ribbon was 4 times as long as Mary’s ribbon. We calculate June’s ribbon length by multiplying [tex]\frac{3}{8}[/tex] by 4:

    [tex]\text{Length of June's Ribbon} = 4 \times \frac{3}{8} = \frac{12}{8} \text{ meters}[/tex]

    Simplify [tex]\frac{12}{8}[/tex] by dividing both the numerator and the denominator by 4:

    [tex]\frac{12}{8} = \frac{3}{2} \text{ meters} = 1.5 \text{ meters}[/tex]

  3. Total Length of Ribbon: Now, add the length of Mary’s ribbon to the length of June’s ribbon:

    [tex]\text{Total Length} = \frac{3}{8} + \frac{3}{2}[/tex]

    To add these fractions, we need a common denominator. Convert [tex]\frac{3}{2}[/tex] with a denominator of 8:

    [tex]\frac{3}{2} = \frac{3 \times 4}{2 \times 4} = \frac{12}{8}[/tex]

    Now add the two fractions:

    [tex]\frac{3}{8} + \frac{12}{8} = \frac{3+12}{8} = \frac{15}{8}[/tex]

    [tex]\frac{15}{8}[/tex] can be written as a mixed number:

    [tex]\frac{15}{8} = 1 \frac{7}{8} \text{ meters}[/tex]

So, the total length of ribbon that Mary and June had is [tex]1 \frac{7}{8}[/tex] meters.