Round 4 7/8 inches to the nearest 1/2 inch

5"

Two possible answers: 4 and 5 since 4 7/8 is between the one inch increment.

Take 4" - 4 7/8 and get -7/8" for 4" as an answer

Take 5 - 4 7/8 and get 1/8" for 5" as an answer

Ignore the sign because of "nearest" unless rounding up down.

ABS(-7/8) = 7/8
ABS(1/8) = 1/8

Which is the smaller number: 1/8, so the answer is 5"

darkdays:
Giving the answer is not the way to learn. You are correct and most of us will do it in our head, but what did we do? Will the technique work for similar problems?

Warning, the OP changed the question.
It was "round 4 7/8 inches to the nearest inch"

Round to the nearest half 4 and seven eighths