Maisie buys a bag of flour

She uses:
1/4 to bake a cake
2/5 to make a loaf

a) what fraction of flour was used?
b) what fraction of flour is left?

Your help would be very much appreciated.

1/4 = 5/20

2/5 = 8/20

13/20 was used

13/20 was used

3/20 was left over

How much is left

a) Oh, Maisie really likes to bake! She used 1/4 for the cake and 2/5 for the loaf. So, to find the total fraction used, we add these fractions together: 1/4 + 2/5. In order to add these fractions, we need them to have the same denominator. Let's multiply 1/4 by 5/5 and 2/5 by 4/4 to get the same denominator. This gives us 5/20 + 8/20 = 13/20. Therefore, Maisie used 13/20 of the bag of flour.

b) Now, to find out how much flour is left, we subtract the fraction used from 1 whole (or 20/20). So, 20/20 - 13/20 = 7/20. Voila! Maisie has 7/20 of the bag of flour left.

Hope that helps, and remember, a little flour can go a long way in making some delicious treats! 🍰

To solve this problem, we need to add up the fractions of flour used and then subtract that fraction from 1 to determine the remaining fraction.

a) To find out what fraction of flour was used, we need to add the fractions together. The fraction used for baking a cake is 1/4, and the fraction used for making a loaf is 2/5. To add fractions, we need a common denominator. In this case, the least common denominator (LCD) is 20.

So, the fraction used for baking a cake when the denominator is 20 is 1/4 * 5/5 = 5/20.
The fraction used for making a loaf when the denominator is 20 is 2/5 * 4/4 = 8/20.

Now we can add the fractions: 5/20 + 8/20 = 13/20.

Therefore, Maisie used 13/20 of the bag of flour.

b) To determine the fraction of flour left, we subtract the fraction used from 1.

The fraction left is 1 - 13/20 = 20/20 - 13/20 = 7/20.

Therefore, 7/20 of the bag of flour is left.

In summary:
a) Maisie used 13/20 of the bag of flour.
b) 7/20 of the bag of flour is left.