Question

Carmen recovered 2 gold bars that were stolen from a safe. The first bar weighed 2 2/5 pounds. The second bar weighed 1 2/3 times as much as the first bar. Find out how much gold was recovered

Answer 1

If you would like to know how much gold was recovered, you can calculate this using the following steps:

1 gold bar: 2 2/5 pounds = 12/5 pounds
2 gold bar: 1 2/3 = 5/3 times as much as the first ... 5/3 * 12/5 pounds = 5/3 * 12/5 = 4 pounds

12/5 pounds + 4 pounds = 12/5 + 20/5 = 32/5 = 6 2/5 pounds

The correct result would be 6 2/5 pounds.

Answer 2

There are two gold bars recovered.
Bar 1 = 2 2/5 pounds
Bar 2 = 2 2/5 x 1 2/3

It is easier if we convert to improper fraction.

Bar 1 = 12/5
Bar 2 = 12/5 x 5/3 = 12/3

Total gold recovered = 12/5 + 12/3
Total gold recovered = 3*12 + 5*12 / 15
Total gold recovered = 96/15 = 32/5 = 6 2/5