Question

In the first round of a card game, Niki scored 20.5 points. Then, she lost 10 1/4 points on one turn and also lost 24.75 points on her final turn. What is Niki's final score?

Answer 1

To determine Niki's final score after her losses, we start with her initial score and subtract the points she lost.

1. **Initial Score**: Niki started with 20.5 points.

2. **Losses**:
- She lost 10 1/4 points on one turn. We can convert 10 1/4 into an improper fraction:
\[
10 \frac{1}{4} = 10 + 0.25 = 10.25
\]
- She also lost 24.75 points on her final turn.

Now we need to sum up these losses:
\[
10.25 + 24.75
\]

To add these two numbers:
- First, add the whole numbers and then add the decimal parts:
\[
10.25 + 24.75 = (10 + 24) + (0.25 + 0.75) = 34 + 1 = 35
\]

3. **Final Calculation**: Now we subtract the total loss from the initial score:
\[
20.5 - 35
\]

To perform this subtraction, we can convert 20.5 to a fraction:
\[
20.5 = 20 \frac{1}{2} = 20.5 = \frac{41}{2}
\]
Now we convert 35 into a fraction as well:
\[
35 = \frac{70}{2}
\]

Now we can subtract:
\[
\frac{41}{2} - \frac{70}{2} = \frac{41 - 70}{2} = \frac{-29}{2}
\]

This can be rewritten as a decimal:
\[
\frac{-29}{2} = -14.5
\]

Thus, Niki's final score is:
\[
\boxed{-14.5}
\]