Question

lucinda weighs two bags of apples at the grocery store. the first weighs 3 1/5 pounds. the second bag weighs 2 4/5 pounds. what's the difference in weight of the two bags?

Answer 1

2/5 pound

Explanation:

The first bag is 1/5 pound more than 3 pounds. The second bag is 1/5 pound less. The difference in weight is 1/5 +1/5 = 2/5 pounds.

If you'd like to see that as an equation, you could write ...

Δw = (3 +1/5) -(3 -1/5)

= (3 -3) +(1/5 -(-1/5))

= 0 +1/5 +1/5 = 2/5

The weight difference is 2/5 pounds.