Alison is making a 16 inch necklace. the first 4 1/4 inches are filled with red beads and 8 3/8 inches are filled with blue beads. the rest has white beads. how many inches are filled with beads

Total length = length covered by red beads + length covered by blue beads + length covered by white beads

16 inches = 4 1/4 inches + 8 3/8 inches + x

16 inches = 17/4 + 67/8 + x

16 inches = (34+67) / 8 + x

16 inches = 101/8 + x

x = 16 - 12 5/8 inches

x = 3 3/8 inches.

3 3/8 inches are filled with white beads.