Did you know?
much money did James have in the beginning? (b) How much money did James save?
Did you know that fractions can be used to solve real-life problems, like managing money? In a fascinating example, James spent 1/5 of his money on a pair of shoes and 1/10 on a book. After these expenses, he had some money left over. He wisely saved 2/7 of this remaining money. The rest was then shared equally among his 8 brothers, who each received $5. Using our fraction skills, we can answer two intriguing questions. Firstly, to find out how much money James had in the beginning, we add up the fractions: 1/5 + 1/10 + 2/7 = 49/70. So, James had 49 parts of money, and since each brother received $5, we divide this amount by 8 to find the value of each part: 49/70 ÷ 8 = 49/560. Interestingly, we can simplify this fraction to 7/80, meaning each part is worth $7. Finally, by multiplying the value of each part ($7) by the total number of parts (49), we discover that James had $343 in the beginning. Secondly, to determine how much money James saved, we multiply the remaining money (49/70) by the fraction that represents his savings (2/7): 49/70 × 2/7 = 98/490. Simplifying this fraction gives us 2/10, or $20 in decimal form. We can conclude that James originally had $343, and he saved $20. Isn't it fascinating how fractions help us solve these financial mysteries?
