The three volumes of Lord of the Rings sit in order on a shelf. Each is 1 1/4 inches thick, comprising an inch of pages and 1/8 inch for each cover. A bookworm bores from page 1, volume I, to the last page of volume III. How far does it travel?

4 2/4 (NOT SIMPLIFIED)

Step-by-step explanation:

Comprising means made of (aka including). You just add 1 1/4+1 1/4+1 1/4.

=3 3/4

The 1/8 is for the front and back cover. The bookworm ate through 3 volumes so there is 6 covers. So times 1/8 by 6. I turned the 6 into a fraction by putting it over 1. So now you have 1/8×6/1=6/8. Now you are going to add the 3 3/4 to the 6/8. You are going to turn the whole fraction to an improper. You are going to multiply the whole number(3) to the denominator(4), add that to the numerator(3) , and put it over the original denominator (4)= 15/4. Now you are going to set up the problem were you add the 6/8 to the 15/4. To add fractions the denominator have to be the same. With this problem you have two options: you can either do an equation to change the 6/8 denominator equal to 4 or an equation to change the 15/4 denominator equal to 8. Either one would work fine. I'm going to show you how to set the 6/8 denominator to 4.

1. Set it up as an equation                       6/8=x/4

2. Find what gets the first denominator to the second in this case dividing by 2                                                          6/8=x/4

3. What you do to the bottom is what you have to do with the top. So to find x, you need to divide 6 by 2= 3

So now your new equation is now 3/4+15/4. Adding this should give you 18/4, but most likely you have to write it as a proper fraction. To do this you are going to divide the 18 by 4. Your remainder will become your new numerator and the 4 will still be you denominator. The number times 4 fully goes into 18 will be your new whole number.

18/4=4.5