Jessica needs 5 5/8 yards of fabric to make a skirt and 14 1/2 yards to make a coat. How much fabric does she need in all? 19 9/8

Right. Now simplify your answer.

It would be 19 9/8 but you probably have to simplify it to 20 1/8

I divide 9/8 and got 1 1/8

So the mixed number 1 1/8 I had the 1 to 19 to get 20?

Right.

Hint: An easy way to check your problems is to turn the fractions into decimals and use a calculator.

To find out how much fabric Jessica needs in total, we need to add the amount of fabric needed for the skirt and the amount of fabric needed for the coat.

Jessica needs 5 5/8 yards of fabric for the skirt, and 14 1/2 yards of fabric for the coat.

To add these fractions together, we first need to make sure the fractions have a common denominator. In this case, the common denominator is 8.

For the skirt: 5 5/8 = (5 * 8 + 5) / 8 = 45/8
For the coat: 14 1/2 = (14 * 2 + 1) / 2 = 29/2

Now, we can add the fractions:

45/8 + 29/2

To add these fractions, we need to have the same denominator. Since 8 is a multiple of 2, we can convert the second fraction to have a denominator of 8:

29/2 = (29 * 4) / (2 * 4) = 116/8

Now, we can add the fractions:

45/8 + 116/8 = 161/8

So, Jessica needs 161/8 yards of fabric in total.

To convert this fraction to a mixed number, we can divide the numerator 161 by the denominator 8:

161 ÷ 8 = 20 with a remainder of 1

This means that Jessica needs 20 and 1/8 yards of fabric in total.

Therefore, Jessica needs 20 1/8 yards of fabric in all.