Question

One week a family ate `3 1/2` boxes of cereal. The next week they ate `1 3/4` boxes. How many boxes did they eat in the two weeks?

Answer 1

Add the whole boxes and then the fractions

Explanation:

`=(3+1/2)+(1+3/4)=(3+1)+(1/2+3/4)`

Since `1/2=2/4`:

`=4+(2/4+3/4)=4+(5/4)`

We can take out `4/4=1`:

`=4+(1+1/4)=5+1/4=5 1/4`