Brandon has a male puppy with a mass of 3 1/2 kilograms and a female puppy with a mass of 2 1/5 kilograms. How much greater is the male puppy’s mass than the female puppy’s?
3 ½=2 ⅕+x
x=3 ½-2 ⅕
x=[3-2]+[5/10-2/10]
x=_____
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To find the difference in mass between the male and female puppies, we need to subtract the mass of the female puppy from the mass of the male puppy.
The mass of the male puppy is given as 3 1/2 kilograms. To find a decimal representation of this mixed number, we add the whole number part (3) to the fraction part (1/2).
3 + 1/2 = 3 1/2 = 7/2
Therefore, the mass of the male puppy can be written as 7/2 kilograms.
The mass of the female puppy is given as 2 1/5 kilograms. Similarly, we convert this mixed number to a decimal by adding the whole number part (2) to the fraction part (1/5).
2 + 1/5 = 2 1/5 = 11/5
Hence, the mass of the female puppy can be written as 11/5 kilograms.
Now, to find the difference in mass, we subtract the mass of the female puppy from the mass of the male puppy:
7/2 - 11/5
To subtract fractions, we need a common denominator, which is the least common multiple (LCM) of 2 and 5, which is 10.
Converting both fractions to have a denominator of 10:
(7/2) * (5/5) = 35/10
(11/5) * (2/2) = 22/10
Now we can subtract the fractions:
35/10 - 22/10 = 13/10
Therefore, the difference in mass between the male and female puppies is 13/10 kilograms, or 1 3/10 kilograms as a mixed number.