Erica bought 3 1/2 yards of fabric. If she uses 2/3 of the fabric to make a curtain, how much will she have left?

1 Answer
Jan 16, 2018

17/6 Or

2 5/6 Or

2.83333333...

Explanation:

1) We have to minus 2/3 from 3 1/2 As 2/3 of the whole of the fabric (3 1/2) is used.

3 1/2 =7/2

3 xx 2=6

6+1=7

7/2 -2/3

2) We have to find a common denominator of both of the fractions as this is an essential step to add/subtract fractions, So we need to find the lowest common multiple of 2 and 3 which is 6:

7/2 xx 3=21/6 (As 2 xx 3=6)

2/3 xx 2=4/6 (As 3 xx 2=6)

therefore this goes to...

21/6 -4/6

As both denominators are the same, all we need to do is take away 4 from 21:

21-4=17

So therefore the fraction goes to:

=> 17/6

The answer could be left like this, or a mixed fraction, or a decimal which can be:

2 5/6

Or...

2.83333333333....