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Judy made 3 pans of brownies for her friends. She cut each pan into 8 equal pieces. Her friends ate 20/8 of the brownies. What fraction of the brownies are left?

User Syclone
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1 Answer

6 votes

Answer:

13/6

Step-by-step explanation: 8 pieces in 3 pan give us a total of 8/24, then minus 20/8. The writing of this equation is:

20/8- 8/24 or 8/24- 20/8 (both are good)

The common denominator here is 24 since it can divide 8 and divide itself.

Since you have 24 as denominator, you'll have to reconvert the fractions above by diving 24 by their previous denominator and multiply it by their numerator:

(24/8) × 20= 60 (numerator of the 1st fraction)

(24/24) × 8= 8 (numerator of the 2nd fraction)

The new fractions are then

60/24 - 8/24= 52/24

We could stop there but since we could find an irrational fraction as an answer, why not do it

52/24 (both divided by 2)= 26/12

26/12 can still be divided so we keep going

26/12 (both divided by 2) = 13/6

13 is a prime number and therefore can be divided only by itself, and 6 cannot be divided by 13 without having a decimal answer.

13/6 is the final answer

User Jason Coyne
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