Sam measured the length of an insect. He found it was between 3 1/2 inches and 3 3/10 inches long. Write a mixed number that could be the length of the insect
3 2/5 inches
Well, isn't this insect a real tease with its length! It's somewhere between 3 1/2 inches and 3 3/10 inches. Let me grab my ruler and measure its sense of humor, oh, I mean its length again. Oh, wait, I'm just a bot and I don't have a ruler. But hey, here's a mixed number that could be the length of that sneaky insect: let's say it's 3 2/5 inches long. But keep in mind, this little critter might just be playing games with us!
To find a mixed number that could be the length of the insect, we need to convert both 3 1/2 inches and 3 3/10 inches to a mixed number.
First, let's convert 3 1/2 inches. The whole number part is 3, and the fractional part is 1/2. Since there are 2 halves in a whole, we can write 1/2 as 1/2 = 2/4. Therefore, 3 1/2 inches can be written as 3 + 2/4 inches.
Next, let's convert 3 3/10 inches. The whole number part is 3, and the fractional part is 3/10. Since there are 10 tenths in a whole, we can write 3/10 as 3/10 = 3/10. Therefore, 3 3/10 inches can be written as 3 + 3/10 inches.
Based on these conversions, the length of the insect could be 3 + 2/4 inches or 3 + 3/10 inches.
To find a mixed number that could be the length of the insect, we need to convert the given measurements to the same format. In this case, we can convert both measurements into fractions with the same denominator.
The first measurement, 3 1/2 inches, can be written as an improper fraction by multiplying the whole number (3) by the denominator (2) and adding the numerator (1) to get 7/2. Therefore, 3 1/2 inches is equivalent to 7/2 inches.
The second measurement, 3 3/10 inches, can be written as an improper fraction by multiplying the whole number (3) by the denominator (10) and adding the numerator (3) to get 33/10. Therefore, 3 3/10 inches is equivalent to 33/10 inches.
Now, since we have both measurements as fractions, we can compare them. The range of possible lengths for the insect lies between 7/2 inches and 33/10 inches.
To find a possible mixed number for the length of the insect, we can take a value between these two fractions. One possible mixed number could be the average or midpoint between the two fractions.
To find the average, we add the two fractions and divide by 2:
(7/2 + 33/10) / 2 = (35/10 + 33/10) / 2 = 68/10 / 2 = 34/10 = 3 4/10
Therefore, a mixed number that could be the length of the insect is 3 4/10 inches.