There are three people running to be elected as the Town Clerk. If the first person gets 1/3 of the votes, and the second person gets 2 1/5 of the votes, what is the total votes for the two people? (1 point)
Responses
3/18
Start Fraction 3 over 18 End Fraction
3/15
Start Fraction 3 over 15 End Fraction
1/2
Start Fraction 1 over 2 End Fraction
7/15
To find the total votes for the first two people, we add the fractions 1/3 and 2 1/5.
The first thing we need to do is convert the mixed number 2 1/5 into an improper fraction. To do this, we multiply the whole number 2 by the denominator 5 and add the numerator 1. This gives us 11. The denominator remains 5. So, 2 1/5 as an improper fraction is 11/5.
Now we can add the fractions 1/3 and 11/5. To do this, we need to find a common denominator. The least common multiple of 3 and 5 is 15.
Next, we need to make the denominators of the fractions equal to the common denominator of 15.
For 1/3, we multiply both the numerator and denominator by 5 to get the fraction 5/15.
For 11/5, we multiply both the numerator and denominator by 3 to get the fraction 33/15.
Now that the denominators are equal, we can add the fractions:
(1/3) + (11/5) = (5/15) + (33/15) = 38/15
The total votes for the first two people is 38/15. However, this does not match any of the given answer choices.