Question

Michael is grocey shopping. Before adding fruit to the bag, it weighed 5/9 pounds. Michael added 2/15 pounds of fruit to the bag. How much does it weigh now?

Answer 1

31/45 lb

Explanation:

You want to know the weight of a 5/9 lb bag after 2/15 lb of fruit are added to it.

Sum of fractions

Fractions can be added when they have a common denominator. Here, the denominator will need to have factors of 3² = 9 and 3·5 = 15. It can be ...

3·3·9 = 45

Using this denominator, the fractions are ...

bag weight = 5/9 lb = 25/45 lb

fruit weight = 2/15 lb = 6/45 lb

The total weight of the fruit and the bag is ...

total weight = 25/45 lb + 6/45 lb = 31/45 lb

With the fruit, the bag weighs 31/45 pounds.