After a snowstorm, 9 5/8 inches of snow were on the ground. It snowed 5 3/4 inches during the storm. How much snow was on the ground before the storm?

Answer 1

This is a fraction subtraction problem.

9 5/8 − 5 3/4 = ?

You are starting with unlike denominators, so you have to make them the same before you subtract. That means changing the 3/4 to eights... it will be 6/8:

9 5/8 − 5 6/8 = ?

But now you are trying to take 6/8 from 5/8, which you can't do. You have to regroup one whole number from the 9 (leaving 8) and break it into 8/8... and add those to the 5/8 to get 13/8... so you have enough 8ths to do the subtraction:

8 13/8 - 5 6/8 =

Now you can finally subtract... remember to put the units (inches) on your answer:

8 13/8 - 5 6/8 = 3 7/8 inches