Question

Sandra needs 4 1/4 cups of flour for one kind of cookie and 3 1/8 cups for another kind. How much would she need for both kinds?

Answer 1

`59/8` or `7 3/8` cups.

Explanation:

To solve this we must add: `4 1/4 + 3 1/8`

First, we must convert the Mixed Fractions to Improper Fractions. To do this we must multiply each integer by the appropriate form of `1` and then add this to the fraction:

`((4/4xx 4) + 1/4) + ((8/8 xx 3) + 1/8)`

`(16/4 + 1/4) + (24/8 + 1/8)`

`17/4 + 25/8`

Next we must get each equation over a common denominator (in this case 8) by multiply the fraction by the appropriate form of `1` so we can add the fractions:

`(2/2 xx 17/4) + 25/8`

`34/8 + 25/8`

`(34 + 25)/8`

`59/8`

or

`(56 + 3)/8`

`56/8 + 3/8`

`7 + 3/8`

`7 3/8`