Question

How do you simplify `\frac { 4} { 5} + \frac { 7} { 8}`?

Answer 1

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

We need to put each fraction over a common denominator by multiplying each fraction by the appropriate form of `1`:

`4/5 = 8/8 xx 4/5 = (8 xx 4)/(8 xx 5) = 32/40`

`7/8 = 5/5 xx 7/8 = (5 xx 7)/(5 xx 8) = 35/40`

We can now add the numerators of the two fractions over the common denominator.

`32/40 + 35/40 = (32 + 35)/40 = 67/40`

If necessary, we can convert this improper fraction into a mixed number as follows:

`67/40 = (40 + 27)/40 = 40/40 + 27/40 = 1 + 27/40 = 1 27/40`