Use a proportion to solve the problem.


Under typical conditions, 1 1/2ft of snow will melt to 2 in. of water. To how many inches of water will 3 1/4 ft of snow melt? Express your answer as an integer or mixed number.

x/(13/4) = 2/(3/2)

(3/2)x = 2(13/4)
x = (13/2)(2/3)
= 13/2 or 6 1/2

Start by converting mixed numbers into improper fractions.

1 1/2ft = 3/2 ft.
3 1/4ft = 13/4 ft

Now divide 2in by 3/2 ft
2/(3/2) = 4/3

So, if 3/2 feet of snow yields 2 in of water, 1ft of snow will yield 4/3 in of water.

Now multiply 13/4 by 4/3.

13/4*4/3 = 13/3. Convert that to a mixed number: 4 1/3.

3 1/4ft of snow will melt to 4 1/3 in of water.

Marth is correct, my last line should have been

= 13/3 or 4 1/3

Argghhh!, silly arithmetic errors

So what your trying to say is that I always convert my mixed numbers into imporper fractions that is my first step right? Once I have done that I divide but is it always going to be divided by two or it depends on the problem. Last but not least is mult. so the steps are convert mixed #'s, divide, then mult.

mixed numbers are pretty well useless in actual calculations, since the first thing one usually has to do is change them to improper fractions.

I also resent the fact that something like 5/2 is called an "improper" fraction, there is nothing improper about them.
I never really cared if my students left final answers in mixed fraction form or 'improper' fraction form.
What I do resent is that some teachers mark it "wrong" if you don't change it to a mixed fraction.

To solve this problem using a proportion, we need to set up a ratio comparing the amount of snow to the amount of water it will melt to.

Given the information:
1 1/2 ft of snow = 2 in. of water

We can set up the proportion as:
(1 1/2 ft of snow) / (2 in. of water) = (3 1/4 ft of snow) / (x in. of water)

We can cross-multiply to find the value of x:

(1 1/2 ft of snow) * (x in. of water) = (2 in. of water) * (3 1/4 ft of snow)

To multiply mixed numbers, you can convert them to improper fractions:
(3/2) * (x/1) = (2/1) * (13/4)

Now we can simplify and solve for x:

3x/2 = 26/4

To simplify further, we can multiply both sides by 2 to get rid of the fraction:
3x = 52/4

Divide both sides by 3 to solve for x:
x = (52/4) / 3
= 52/12
= 4 4/12

So, 3 1/4 ft of snow will melt to 4 4/12 inches of water.
To express this as a mixed number, we can simplify the fraction:
4 4/12 = 4 1/3

Therefore, 3 1/4 ft of snow will melt to 4 1/3 inches of water.