Maria has to spend 5 1/2 hours to finish her community service program in a community health clinic. Last week, she was able to spend 3 3/4 hours. Which e

1 answer

To find out how many hours Maria has left to complete her community service program, we need to subtract the time she has already spent from the total time required.

  1. Convert the mixed numbers to improper fractions:

    • For \(5 \frac{1}{2}\): \[ 5 \frac{1}{2} = \frac{5 \times 2 + 1}{2} = \frac{10 + 1}{2} = \frac{11}{2} \]
    • For \(3 \frac{3}{4}\): \[ 3 \frac{3}{4} = \frac{3 \times 4 + 3}{4} = \frac{12 + 3}{4} = \frac{15}{4} \]
  2. Next, we need to subtract \( \frac{15}{4} \) from \( \frac{11}{2} \). First, we convert \( \frac{11}{2} \) to a fraction with a denominator of 4: \[ \frac{11}{2} = \frac{11 \times 2}{2 \times 2} = \frac{22}{4} \]

  3. Now perform the subtraction: \[ \frac{22}{4} - \frac{15}{4} = \frac{22 - 15}{4} = \frac{7}{4} \]

  4. Finally, convert \( \frac{7}{4} \) back to a mixed number:

    • \( \frac{7}{4} = 1 \frac{3}{4} \)

Thus, Maria has \( 1 \frac{3}{4} \) hours left to complete her community service program.