Maddie watched a ladybug in the yard. It crawled 7 inches, then rested for a bit, and then crawled 10 1/12 inches more. How far did the ladybug crawl in all?

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

1 answer

To find out how far the ladybug crawled in total, we need to add the two distances it crawled.

The first distance is 7 inches and the second distance is 10 1/12 inches.

We can convert the whole number 7 into a fraction with a common denominator to add it to the mixed number:

  1. Convert 7 inches into a fraction:

    • 7 inches = 7/1
  2. Convert 7/1 to a fraction with the same denominator as 10 1/12:

    • The denominator of 10 1/12 is 12. To convert 7 into a fraction with a denominator of 12, we can multiply both the numerator and denominator of 7/1 by 12: \[ 7/1 = (7 \times 12) / (1 \times 12) = 84/12 \]
  3. Now we can add 84/12 and 10 1/12. First, convert 10 1/12 into an improper fraction:

    • 10 1/12 = (10 \times 12 + 1) / 12 = (120 + 1) / 12 = 121/12
  4. Now we add the two fractions: \[ 84/12 + 121/12 = \frac{84 + 121}{12} = \frac{205}{12} \]

  5. To convert \(\frac{205}{12}\) into a mixed number, divide 205 by 12:

    • 205 divided by 12 equals 17 with a remainder of 1.
    • Therefore, \(\frac{205}{12} = 17\) remainder \(1\), which can be expressed as the mixed number \(17 \frac{1}{12}\).

The total distance that the ladybug crawled is \(\boxed{17 \frac{1}{12}}\) inches.