SOLUTION: Megan and Joe rowed out to where a pole was in a lake to get a better look. after getting an up-close look they returned to shore. they found a local resident and asked him about

Algebra ->  Algebra  -> Numeric Fractions Calculators, Lesson and Practice -> SOLUTION: Megan and Joe rowed out to where a pole was in a lake to get a better look. after getting an up-close look they returned to shore. they found a local resident and asked him about      Log On

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Question 128911: Megan and Joe rowed out to where a pole was in a lake to get a better look.
after getting an up-close look they returned to shore.
they found a local resident and asked him about the pole.
they were told that one-half of the pole was lodged in the ground,
another one-third of it was covered by water, and 11 feet of the pole
is sticking out of the water. what is the total length of the pole in feet?
i am in grade 4 and stuck??
Answer by JessicaGill(40) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
First we need to figure out the total amount of the pole that is hidden by the ground and water.
The problem says 1%2F2 is lodged in the ground and 1%2F3 is covered by water. Lets add these two together to get the total lenght of the pole that is hidden.
1%2F2%2B1%2F3
We need to make these two fractions equivalent (making the denominators equal)
So we need to find the least common denominator. What is the smallest number that 2 and 3 will divide into is the question that we need to ask. That number would be 6.
To make 1%2F2 equal to something/6 we need to know how many times 2 will divide into 6. It will divide into 6 3 times. Now we take 3 and multiply it by the numerator which is 1 so we have 3%2A1=3. So the fraction that is equal to 1%2F2 is 3%2F6.
We do the same steps to find out what fraction with 6 as the denominator is equal to 1%2F3. we need to know how many times 3 will divide into 6. It will divide into 6 2 times. Now we take 2 and multiply it by the numerator which is 1 so we have 2%2A1=2. So the fraction that is equal to 1%2F3 is 2%2F6.
Now that we have two equivalent fractions we can add them together.
3%2F6%2B2%2F6=5%2F6. Now we know that 5%2F6 of the pole is hidden by the ground and the water. Because we know that 5%2F6%2B1%2F6=6%2F6 or 1 11 feet of the pole equals 1%2F6 of the lenght. Because there is 5%2F6ths of the pole hidden, there are 5 more sections of 11 feet that cant be seen.
We take 5%2A11 and get 55. If we can see 11 feet and cant see 55 feet, then the total feet of the pole is 11%2B55=66 total feet!
Hope this helps you out.
Thanks,
Ms. G