Question

Three friends each have some ribbon. Carol has $42\,inches$ of ribbon, Tino has $2.5\,feet$ of ribbon, and Baxter has $1.5\,yards$ of ribbon. How do you express the total length of ribbon the three friends have in inches, feet and yards?

Answer 1

Hint: Here we have to express the total length of the ribbon in inches, feet and yards. First, we will convert all the lengths into inches, then we can convert the final answer in feet and yards. To solve this question we use different conversions such as $1\,foot = 12\,inches$ and $1\,yard = 3feet$.

Complete step-by-step answer:
 Let’s convert all the lengths in inches.
We have
Carol has $42\,inches$ of ribbon.
Tino has $2.5\,feet$ of ribbon. So, we have to convert $2.5\,feet$ in $inches$.
We know that $1\,foot = 12\,inches$
$ \Rightarrow 2.5\,feet = 2.5 \times 12 = 30\,inches$
Now, Baxter has $1.5\,yards$ of ribbon. So, we have to convert $1.5\,yards$ in $inches$.
We know that $1\,yard = 3feet$ and $1\,foot = 12\,inches$
$ \Rightarrow 1.5\,yards = 1.5 \times 3 \times 12 = 54\,inches$
Now, all lengths are in inches so we will add all the three lengths to get the total length of the ribbon.
Total length of the ribbon$ = (42 + 30 + 54) inches = 126 inches$
Now, we have to convert $126\,inches$ into feet and yards.
Converting $126\,inches$ in feet. We get,
$ \Rightarrow \dfrac{{126}}{{12}} = 10.5\,feet$
Converting $10.5\,feet$ in yards. We get
$ \Rightarrow \dfrac{{10.5}}{3} = 3.5\,yards$
Hence,
 The total length of the ribbon in inches is equal to $126\,inches$.
The total length of the ribbon in feet is equal to $10.5\,feet$.
The total length of the ribbon in yards is equal to $3.5\,yards$.

Note: In these types of problems first convert all the different units into one same unit and after that convert the final answer into a desirable unit by using a conversion formula. Conversion formulas are to be used carefully otherwise the answer may get wrong.