Chapter 2 Fractions

The Home Depot is credited as being the market leader of the retail home-improvement industry. The level of service is unique among warehouse-style retailers. Home Depot stores stock approximately 40,000 to 50,000 different kinds of building, home-improvement and lawn and garden products. The stores cater to do-it-yourselfers, as well as professionals in construction and home maintenance.

The Home Depot associates are known for providing the best customer service. A variety of services are offered to accommodate the needs of customers. Services include free design and decorating consultations, truck and tool rental, home delivery, and free potting along with free in-store clinics.

By 1999, The Home Depot operated in 44 states, as well as five Canadian provinces. One of the company's short-term goals is to be operating over 1600 stores by the end of the year 2002.

The Home Depot is also committed to giving back to the communities in which they operate stores through various outreach initiaves. Three areas in which they focus for their outreach efforts are the environment, at-risk youth, and affordable housing.

The Home Depot also works closely with the American Red Cross and the Canadian Red Cross in disaster recovery. When wildfires ravaged central Florida's coast, when Hurricane George left residents homeless in Puerto Rico, when a tornado ripped through Oklahoma City leaving thousands homeless, The Home Depot associates responded with materials, financial assistance, tools, and help with the clean up. After seeing the aftermath of such natural disasters, The Home Depot added a fourth area to their charitable focus: disaster preparedness, response, and relief.

As an employer, The Home Depot acknowledges their people as the company's greatest strength. Training classes help entry-level associates become experts in their product areas. Associates are encouraged to go the extra mile for all customers by giving knowledgeable advice and helping them to use The Home Depot products to their maximum benefit. Treating people well, customers as well as associates, has been credited as the key to the company's success.

All this information and more can be found at www.homedepot.com and selecting "Company Info."

Problem:

Preparation:

In preparation for a problem, it is helpful to read the entire problem carefully to determine which calculations are required and in what order they should be performed. At times, solving application problems requires some initial organization of material, as well as one or more calculations and conversions before you are ready to find the final answer. Listed below are three steps to use as a guide to assist you in solving the problems. They are:

• Locate Information
• Calculate Information
• Summarize Information

The following Web sites: 1. www.buildingmaterialsdir.com/general/conv.htm#Imperial, and 2. www.quia.com/custom/46list.html, contain information needed to answer the following questions.

When the problem is complete try Web site, www.quia.com/custom/46gate.html, for fun.

Questions:

1. An electrician purchases 700 feet of wire from The Home Depot. He has four jobs to complete before noon. He cuts pieces 15 1/2, 87 1/4, 50, and 90 3/8 feet long to finish the four projects.
   1. How many feet of wire did the electrician have remaining after completing the first four projects?
   2. Convert the remaining length of wire from feet to yards.
2. A Home Depot customer needs assistance. He is going to tile the floor of a rectangular room that is 12 1/2 feet by 17 1/2 feet in size. The tile he is interested in is square, measuring 12 inches on each side. The tile is sold in boxes that cover a 25-square-foot area.
   1. Convert 12 1/2 and 17 1/2 feet to decimals.
   2. Find the area of the room. The formula for the area of a rectangle is length X width.
   3. How many boxes of tile must the customer purchase to complete the job?
3. Kelly Chastain owns and operates KC Landscaping Company. He is contracted to resod 114 garden plots. Each plot is 3 1/4 feet wide and 6 1/2 feet long. Home Depot is selling sod at $1.42 per square foot.
   1. How many square feet of sod will it take to resod each plot individually? (Hint: Convert the fraction part of the width and length to a decimal. Round your answer to the nearest hundreth.)
   2. What is the cost of the sod needed to complete this project.
   3. How long will it take Kelly to complete the 114 plots if each plot takes 3/4 of an hour or 45 minutes?
4. In paragraph form summarize the importance of reading the entire problem carefully, determining which operations to perform and building on previous knowledge and experiences.

Include the date in your answers.

© Copyright 2000 Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.