In absolute terms, if we want to know much it it grew, we have to subtract the original height from the "after" height:
[tex]2 \frac{1}{3} -1 \frac{1}{2}=2 \frac{2}{6} -1 \frac{3}{6}=
[/tex]
since the two fractions have different denominators, i have brought them to the same denominator
the problem is that the second fraction is bigger than the first! so i will "borrow" 1 whole from the number and change it into the fraction, so I can subtract:
[tex]\frac{2+6}{6} -1 \frac{3}{6}=\frac{8}{6} -1 \frac{3}{6}= \frac{5}{6} [/tex]
and the answer is
[tex] \frac{5}{6} [/tex] inches!
