Luisa bought 2 1/2 pounds of apples, 3 3/8 pounds of oranges, anf 1 1/4 pounds of pears. How many pounds of fruit did she buy in all?
well, add 'em up:
2 4/8
3 3/8
1 2/8
-------
6 9/8 = 7 1/8
To find out how many pounds of fruit Luisa bought in total, we need to add up the weights of the apples, oranges, and pears.
First, let's convert all the fractions to a common denominator.
To convert 1/2 to a fraction with a denominator of 8, we multiply the numerator and denominator by 4:
1/2 * 4/4 = 4/8.
Now we have:
2 1/2 pounds of apples = 2 + 4/8 pounds
3 3/8 pounds of oranges = 3 + 3/8 pounds
1 1/4 pounds of pears = 1 + 2/8 pounds
Now let's add up the weights:
2 + 4/8 + 3 + 3/8 + 1 + 2/8
Add the whole numbers first:
2 + 3 + 1 = 6
Next, add up the fractions:
4/8 + 3/8 + 2/8 = 9/8
Now, combine the whole number and the fraction:
6 + 9/8
To add whole numbers and fractions, we need a common denominator. The denominator we have currently is 8, so we'll keep that as the common denominator:
6 + 9/8 = 6 * 8/8 + 9/8 = (48 + 9)/8 = 57/8
So, Luisa bought a total of 57/8 pounds of fruit.