Adding different units of length

TL;DR

An electrician has cables of varying lengths in inches and feet and needs to determine the total length in feet.

Transcript

An electrician has the following lengths of cable: 23 inches, 49 inches, and 8 feet. How much cable does he have in Feet? So these are the lengths. Each of these are the length of a cable in inches, inches, and feet. And we want to know the total length, if you add all of these up, and we need the total length in feet. And so the best way to do tha... Read More

Key Insights

• 🤌 The electrician converts inches to feet by dividing by 12.
• 😑 Dividing by 12 ensures a smaller number when expressing the length in feet.
• 🇦🇪 Proper handling of units is essential in calculations involving different measurements.
• 👻 Converting quantities to a common denominator allows for accurate addition.
• ❓ Simplifying fractions can provide a clearer understanding of the final result.
• #️⃣ Converting to mixed numbers can be helpful in visualizing the total length.
• 🦶 The electrician has a total of 14 feet of cable.

Questions & Answers

Q: How does the electrician convert the lengths of the cables to feet?

The electrician converts the length in inches to feet by multiplying the length by 1/12, as there are 12 inches in a foot. This allows the cancellation of inches, leaving only feet in the calculation.

Q: Why does the electrician divide by 12 when converting from inches to feet?

Dividing by 12 is necessary because expressing the length in feet should result in a smaller number. Since there are 12 inches in a foot, dividing by 12 ensures the correct conversion.

Q: How does the electrician handle the 8-foot cable in the calculation?

The electrician converts the 8-foot cable into an improper fraction with a denominator of 12, which becomes 96/12 feet. This allows for consistency in the denominator when adding up all the converted lengths.

Q: What is the total length of cable the electrician has in feet?

The total length is 168/12 feet, which simplifies to 14 feet. This is determined by adding up the lengths of the three cables, all converted to a common denominator of 12.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The electrician has three cables: 23 inches, 49 inches, and 8 feet.

• To calculate the total length in feet, each cable is converted to feet.

• The lengths are 23/12 feet, 49/12 feet, and 14 feet, respectively.

• Adding up the converted lengths gives a total of 168/12 feet, which simplifies to 14 feet.