(6) It snowed \( 5 \frac{1}{2} \) inches in January and \( 4 \frac{7}{8} \) inches in February. How many more inches did it snow in January than in February? Show your work.
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To find out how many more inches it snowed in January than in February, we first need to convert both mixed numbers into improper fractions. For January: \( 5 \frac{1}{2} = \frac{11}{2} \) (since \( 5 \times 2 + 1 = 11 \)) For February: \( 4 \frac{7}{8} = \frac{39}{8} \) (since \( 4 \times 8 + 7 = 39 \)) Next, we need a common denominator to subtract these fractions. The least common denominator of 2 and 8 is 8. Now, we convert \( \frac{11}{2} \) to have a denominator of 8: \( \frac{11}{2} = \frac{11 \times 4}{2 \times 4} = \frac{44}{8} \) Now we can subtract: \( \frac{44}{8} - \frac{39}{8} = \frac{44 - 39}{8} = \frac{5}{8} \) So, it snowed \( \frac{5}{8} \) inches more in January than in February. What a snowy comparison! To paraphrase, if you were building a snowman, you'd want to have a sturdy base, and that extra \( \frac{5}{8} \) inches could help make it just a tad taller!