I usually have big problems with word problems but here it goes:
On his twelfth birthday, Ben was 4 3/4 feet tall. On his thirteenth birthday, Ben was 5 3/8 feet tall. How much did Ben grow between his twelfth and thirteenth birthdays?
5 3/8-4 3/4=3 feet
Can you please tell me if I did this correctly and if not please explain to me how to do this.
The common denominator would be 8.
43/8-19/8=24/8=3
No. You didn't use a common denominator.
Correct operation but you did the operation wrong.You need common denominator
Your calculation is almost correct, but there is a minor error.
To find how much Ben grew between his twelfth and thirteenth birthdays, you need to subtract his height at his twelfth birthday from his height at his thirteenth birthday:
5 3/8 feet - 4 3/4 feet
To perform this subtraction correctly, you need to convert the fractions to have a common denominator. The lowest common multiple of 4 and 8 is 8.
Converting 3/4 to eighths: Multiply the numerator and denominator by 2, which gives you 6/8.
Now you can subtract:
5 3/8 feet - 4 6/8 feet
To subtract mixed numbers, you subtract the whole numbers and then subtract the fractions separately:
5 - 4 = 1 (whole numbers)
3/8 - 6/8 = (3-6)/8 = -3/8
So, combining the whole numbers and the fractions:
1 - 3/8 = 1 - 3/8 = 8/8 - 3/8 = 5/8
Therefore, Ben grew 1 and 5/8 feet between his twelfth and thirteenth birthdays, not 3 feet.