A factory makes sheets of metal that are 2 3/4 inches thick. If a worker at the factory makes a stack of 2 of the sheets, how many inches thick will the stack be?
Simplify your answer and write it as a fraction or as a whole or mixed number.
inches
The stack will be 5 1/2 inches thick.
To see why, you can add 2 3/4 twice:
2 3/4 + 2 3/4 = 5 6/4
Simplifying by dividing the numerator and denominator by 2:
5 6/4 = 5 3/2 = 5 1/2
So the stack will be 5 and 1/2 inches thick.