Rachel class recycled 8 3/5 boxes of paper in a month. if they recycled another 7 9/10 boxes the next month what is the total amount they recycled?
I am really confused about this question. Any help?
I'll be glad to check your answer.
To find the total amount of boxes Rachel's class recycled, we need to add the number of boxes they recycled in the first month to the number of boxes they recycled in the second month.
In the first month, Rachel's class recycled 8 3/5 boxes of paper. To add this fraction to a whole number, we need to convert the whole number into a fraction with the same denominator as the fraction.
8 can be written as 8/1, so we have:
8 3/5 = 8/1 + 3/5
To add these fractions, we need to have a common denominator. To do this, we multiply the denominator (5) by the denominator of the first fraction (1) and the denominator of the second fraction (5):
Denominator = 5 * 1 = 5
Now, we multiply the numerator (8) by the denominator of the second fraction (5):
8 * 5 = 40
So, the first fraction can be written as:
8 3/5 = 40/5 + 3/5 = 43/5
Now, let's add the fraction from the first month (43/5) to the number of boxes recycled in the second month (7 9/10).
To add a whole number to a fraction, we need to convert the whole number into a fraction with the same denominator as the fraction.
7 can be written as 7/1, so we have:
7 9/10 = 7/1 + 9/10
To add these fractions, we need to have a common denominator. To do this, we multiply the denominator (10) by the denominator of the first fraction (1) and the denominator of the second fraction (10):
Denominator = 10 * 1 = 10
Now, we multiply the numerator (7) by the denominator of the second fraction (10):
7 * 10 = 70
So, the second fraction can be written as:
7 9/10 = 70/10 + 9/10 = 79/10
Now, let's add the fractions from the first and second months:
43/5 + 79/10
To add these fractions, we need to have a common denominator. The least common multiple of 5 and 10 is 10, so we can rewrite the fractions with a denominator of 10:
43/5 = (43/5) * (2/2) = 86/10
79/10 = 79/10
Now, add the fractions:
86/10 + 79/10 = (86 + 79)/10 = 165/10
The total amount of boxes Rachel's class recycled is 165/10. Since this fraction can be simplified, let's divide the numerator and denominator by their greatest common divisor, which is 5:
165/10 = (165/5) / (10/5) = 33/2
Therefore, the total amount Rachel's class recycled is 33/2 or 16 1/2 boxes of paper.