Fractions and percentages

Question

You want to place a towel bar that is 10 ¹⁄₄ inches long in the center of a door that is 26 ¹⁄₃inches wide. How far should you place the bar from each edge of the door?

Answer 1

The door is 26 1/3 inches wide and you want to put the towel bar in the center. This means that the distance, x, on either side of the towel bar is the same.

x + 10 1/4 + x = 26 1/3

2x + 10 1/4 = 26 1/3

subtract 10 1/4 from both sides

To calculate 26 1/3 - 10 1/4 you need common denominators. First make them improper fractions.

26 1/3 = 26*3+1 = 79/3

3

10 1/4 = 10*4+1 = 41/4

4

12 is the lowest common denominator of 4 and 3

79/3 = 316/12

41/4 = 123/12

Therefore, 26 1/3 - 10 1/4 = 316/12 - 123/12 = 193/12

So, 2x = 193/12

divide both sides by 2

x = 8 1/24