Expert: Josh - 4/3/2009

Question
i was lookin out the problem with the kitch floor and putting in 5'' tiles.  i understand how to turn the 12'6'' and 10'4'' into improper fraction, but it seems to me that it can not be simplified and i am just stuck.  maybe i am trying to hard and i am over looking something but i was wondering if you could give me a hand

Answer
Hi Chris

Using improper fractions, we have 25/2 ft and 31/3 ft.
I think it is much easier to calculate everything in inches.
Since one foot is equivalent to 12 inches, the dimensions of your kitchen (assuming it is rectangular) are 150 inches by 124 inches.

The shorter dimension is not exactly divisible by 5. As an approximation, you will need (150/5) x round(124/5), i.e., roughly 30 x 25 tiles. You may need more than 750 tiles to cover the surface if the shape of the kitchen is somewhat irregular.