Question

At a pie eating contest, Ruth got through 1/2 of a pie before time was called. Monica finished just 5/12 of a pie. How much more pie did Ruth eat than Monica?

Answer 1

Ruth ate
`1/12` more of a pie than Monica at the contest, by converting their portions to a common denominator of
`12` and then subtracting Monica's portion from Ruth's.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find out how much more pie Ruth ate compared to Monica, we need to compare the fractions of the pies they ate at the pie eating contest. Ruth ate
`1/2` of a pie, while Monica finished
`5/12` of a pie.

To compare these fractions, they should have a common denominator. The lowest common denominator for
`2` and
`12` is
`12`. Thus, Ruth's fraction can be expressed as
`6/12` (since
`1/2` is equivalent to
`6/12` when multiplied by
`6/6` ).

Now that both fractions have the same denominator, we can subtract Monica's portion from Ruth's portion to see the difference:

`6/12 - 5/12 = 1/12`

Therefore, Ruth ate
`1/12` more of a pie than Monica did during the contest.