Mike bungee-jumped from a building with eight stories. Each story was 15 4/5 feet in height. How tall was the building?

Answer 1

To find the total height of the building, we need to multiply the height of each story by the number of stories.

First, convert the mixed number $15\frac{4}{5}$ into an improper fraction.

1. The whole number is 15, which can be converted to a fraction with a denominator of 5: $$15=\frac{15\times 5}{5}=\frac{75}{5}$$

2. Now, add the fractional part $\frac{4}{5}$: $$15\frac{4}{5}=\frac{75}{5}+\frac{4}{5}=\frac{79}{5}$$

The height of one story is $\frac{79}{5}$ feet.

Now, since there are 8 stories, we multiply this by 8: $$\text{Total height}=8\times \frac{79}{5}$$

Calculating this gives: $$8\times \frac{79}{5}=\frac{8\times 79}{5}=\frac{632}{5}$$

Now we can convert $\frac{632}{5}$ to a mixed number.

1. Divide 632 by 5: $$632÷5=126\text{with a remainder of }2.$$

Thus, $\frac{632}{5}$ can be expressed as: $$126\frac{2}{5}$$

So, the height of the building is: $$\boxed{{\displaystyle 126\frac{2}{5}}}\text{ feet}.$$