Question 117811
Think to yourself: if 1 is equivalent to 8-eighths, then 8 must be 8 times 8-eighths.
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And 8 times 8-eighths is 64-eighths. So the mixed number is 64-eighths plus 7-eighths for
a total of 71-eighths.
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A "short cut way of thinking this is to take the denominator of the fraction, use it to multiply
the whole number, add the numerator of the fraction, and put that result over the denominator of
the fraction. In steps this would be:
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Take the 8 in the denominator, multiply it by the whole number 8 to get 64, add the 7 from
the numerator to get 71, and put it over the denominator 8 to get {{{71/8}}}.
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If you prefer to write this operation out you can write it as:
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{{{8*(8/8) = (8*8)/8 = 64/8}}} and add {{{7/8}}} to get {{{(64 + 7)/8 = 71/8}}}
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At this point you have {{{71/8}}} as the fraction that is equivalent to the mixed number.
Then you just divide the denominator 8 into 71 and get the decimal equivalent. If you use a
calculator, you will find that 8 into 71 is 8.875 and that is the answer to this problem.
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There are other ways to do the conversion of this mixed number to a decimal equivalent,
but the methods discussed above are pretty general in dealing with mixed numbers and
they are about as simple to remember and to use as any other method. 
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Hope this helps you to understand how to deal with converting mixed numbers to decimals.
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