In one week, Kevin's family drank 4 3/8 cartons of regular milk and 1 1/8 cartons of soy milk. How much milk did they drink in all?
Write your answer as a fraction or as a whole or mixed number.
cartons
To find the total amount of milk Kevin's family drank, we need to add the amount of regular milk they drank with the amount of soy milk they drank.
The amount of regular milk they drank is 4 3/8 cartons. To add this amount, we can rewrite it as an improper fraction: 4 3/8 = (4 * 8) + 3 / 8 = 35/8 cartons.
The amount of soy milk they drank is 1 1/8 cartons. To add this amount, we can rewrite it as an improper fraction: 1 1/8 = (1 * 8) + 1 / 8 = 9/8 cartons.
To find the total, we add the two fractions: 35/8 + 9/8 = (35 + 9) / 8 = 44/8 cartons.
Now, we can simplify this fraction. Both the numerator and denominator are divisible by 4: 44/8 = (44 / 4) / (8 / 4) = 11/2 cartons.
Therefore, Kevin's family drank a total of 11/2 cartons of milk, which is equal to 5 1/2 cartons (as a mixed number).