At the end of a soccer game, the head coach noticed that the jug of water, which had initially contained $8\frac{9}{10}$ gallons, was down to $1\frac{7}{10}$ gallons. How many gallons of water had been consumed? $\newline$ Write your answer as a fraction or as a whole or mixed number. $\newline$ $\_\_\_$ gallons

Full solution

Q. At the end of a soccer game, the head coach noticed that the jug of water, which had initially contained

8\frac{9}{10}

gallons, was down to

1\frac{7}{10}

gallons. How many gallons of water had been consumed?

\newline

Write your answer as a fraction or as a whole or mixed number.

\newline

\_\_\_

gallons

Identify amounts of water: Step $1$ : Identify the initial and remaining amounts of water. $\newline$ Initial amount: $8\frac{9}{10}$ gallons, $\newline$ Remaining amount: $1\frac{7}{10}$ gallons. $\newline$ We need to subtract the remaining amount from the initial amount to find out how much water was consumed. $\newline$ Calculation: $8\frac{9}{10} - 1\frac{7}{10}$
Convert to improper fractions: Step $2$ : Convert mixed numbers to improper fractions for easy subtraction. $\newline$ $8 \frac{9}{10} = (8\times10 + 9)/10 = \frac{89}{10}$ , $\newline$ $1 \frac{7}{10} = (1\times10 + 7)/10 = \frac{17}{10}$ . $\newline$ Now subtract: $\frac{89}{10} - \frac{17}{10}$
Perform subtraction: Step $3$ : Perform the subtraction. $\newline$ $\frac{89}{10} - \frac{17}{10} = \frac{89 - 17}{10} = \frac{72}{10} = 7 \frac{2}{10}$ or $7.2$ gallons. $\newline$ This is the amount of water consumed.