problem: If Wonder Woman can capture 6 criminals in an hour, how many can she capture in $4\frac{1}{2}$ hours?
solution: To find the number of criminals that Wonder Woman can capture in $4 \frac{1}{2}$ hours, we multiply how many criminals she can capture per hour by the number of hours she spends capturing criminals. Thus, she can capture $6 \cdot (4 \frac{1}{2})=6 \cdot \frac{9}{2} = \boxed{27}$ criminals in $4 \frac{1}{2}$ hours.