A meteorologist found that the rainfall in Castroville during the first half of the month was 7/8 of an inch. At the end of the month, he found that the total rainfall for the month was 2 3/4 inches. How much did it rain in the second half of the month?

Write your answer as a fraction or as a whole or mixed number

1 answer

To find the amount of rainfall in the second half of the month, we need to subtract the rainfall from the first half of the month from the total rainfall for the month.

First, convert the total rainfall of 2 3/4 inches into an improper fraction:

234=2×4+34=8+34=114

Now we can express the rainfall in the first half of the month (7/8 inches) as a fraction:

Rainfall in first half=78

Next, we will find the rainfall in the second half of the month by subtracting the first half's rainfall from the total rainfall:

Rainfall in second half=Total rainfallRainfall in first half

Substituting the values we have:

Rainfall in second half=11478

To perform this subtraction, we need a common denominator. The least common multiple of 4 and 8 is 8. We will convert 114 to have a denominator of 8:

114=11×24×2=228

Now we can perform the subtraction:

Rainfall in second half=22878=2278=158

Finally, we can convert 158 into a mixed number:

158=178

So, the amount it rained in the second half of the month is:

178