A chemical plant takes in 5 1/2 million gallons of water from a local river and discharges 3 2/3 million directly back into the river. How much water does not go directly back into the river?
5 3/6 - 3 4/6 = 4 9/6 - 3 4/6 = 1 5/6
5 1/2 - 3 2/3 =
5 3/6 - 3 4/6
4 9/6 - 3 4/6 = 1 5/6 million gallons
To find out how much water does not go directly back into the river, we need to subtract the amount of water discharged back into the river from the amount of water taken in by the plant.
The plant takes in 5 1/2 million gallons of water from the local river, which can be written as 5.5 million gallons.
The plant discharges 3 2/3 million gallons directly back into the river, which can be written as 3.67 million gallons.
To find the amount of water that does not go back into the river, subtract the discharged amount from the taken amount:
5.5 million gallons - 3.67 million gallons = 1.83 million gallons
Therefore, 1.83 million gallons of water does not go directly back into the river.