A swimming pool is filled with water to a depth of 4 1/2 feet. If the pool has a maximum depth of 8 feet, how much deeper does the pool need to be filled?
To find out how much deeper the pool needs to be filled, we need to subtract the current depth of the water in the pool from the maximum depth.
Maximum depth - Current depth = Amount of additional depth needed
The maximum depth of the pool is 8 feet, and the current depth of the water is 4 1/2 feet.
To subtract the fractions, we need to find a common denominator between the two fractions. The common denominator is 2, which is the LCM of the denominators 2 and 1.
So, 4 1/2 feet is equal to (4 * 2)/(2 * 2) + 1/2 = 8/2 + 1/2 = 9/2 feet.
Now, we can subtract the current depth of the water from the maximum depth:
8 feet - 9/2 feet = (8 * 2)/(2 * 2) - 9/2 = 16/2 - 9/2 = 7/2
The pool needs to be filled 7/2 feet deeper.