Question

lyle bought 3/8 pound of red grapes and 5/12 pound of green grapes. how much pounds of grapes did he buy

Answer 1

3/8+5/12=19/24 This is already in its lowest term

Answer 2

He bought 19/24 pounds of grapes.

3 5
------- + ------- = 0
8 12

In adding fractions.
Step 1: make sure the denominators are the same. 8 and 12 are not the same. But both are factors of 24.

8 * 3 = 24
12 * 2 = 24

Multiply both numerator and denominator of 3/8 by 3 and 5/12 by 2.

3 * 3 5 * 2 9 10
--------- + ------------- = -------- + ---------
8 * 3 12 * 2 24 24

Step 2. Since the denominator is now the same, add the numerator and put it over the denominator.

9 + 10 19
---------- = -------
24 24

Step 3. Simplify the fraction.

19
----
24 is already the simplified form.