Hector made a fruit salad with 7 2/5 pounds of melon and 1 1/2 pounds of berries. How many pounds of fruit did Hector use in all?
Write your answer as a fraction or as a whole or mixed number.
pounds
To find the total weight of the fruit, we add the weight of the melon to the weight of the berries.
7 2/5 + 1 1/2 =
To add these fractions, we need to have a common denominator. The least common multiple of 5 and 2 is 10.
The equivalent fractions with a denominator of 10 are:
7 2/5 = 7 (2/5 * 2/2) = 7 (4/10) = 7 4/10
1 1/2 = 1 (1/2 * 5/5) = 1 (5/10) = 1 5/10
Now we can add the whole numbers:
7 + 1 = 8
And we can add the fractions:
4/10 + 5/10 = 9/10
So, the total weight of the fruit salad is 8 9/10 pounds.