Question

Kristen picked 1/4 of a pound of strawberries. That afternoon, Kristen sister ate 5/6 of the strawberries. How many pound of strawberries did Kristen’s sister eat?

Answer 1

Kristen's sister ate 5/24 of a pound of strawberries, calculated by multiplying 1/4 by 5/6. The multiplication of fractions is not like the addition or subtraction of fractions, where the denominator should be the same.

Step-by-step explanation:

Kristen picked 1/4 of a pound of strawberries. If Kristen's sister ate 5/6 of the strawberries Kristen picked, we need to find out how much that is in pounds. Here is a step-by-step solution:

1. Calculate the fraction of the pound of strawberries eaten by multiplying the two fractions together: (1/4) × (5/6).
2. When you multiply the numerators together and the denominators together, you get (1 × 5) / (4 × 6), which simplifies to 5/24.
3. The answer is that Kristen's sister ate 5/24 of a pound of strawberries.

The multiplication of fractions is not like the addition or subtraction of fractions, where the denominator should be the same. Here, any two fractions with different denominators can easily be multiplied. The only thing to be kept in mind is that the fractions should not be in the mixed form, they should either be proper fractions or improper fractions. Let us learn how to multiply fractions through the following steps:

Step 1: Multiply the numerators.

Step 2: Multiply the denominators.

Step 3: Reduce the resultant fraction to its lowest terms.

Let us understand these steps with the help of an example.

Example: Multiply the following fractions: 1/3 × 3/5.

Solution: We start by multiplying the numerators: 1 × 3 = 3, then, multiply the denominators: 3 × 5 = 15. This can be written as: (1 × 3)/(3 × 5) = 3/15. Now, reduce this value to its lowest form. 3 is the Greatest Common Factor (GCF) of 3 and 15, so, divide both 3 and 15 by 3 to simplify the fraction. Therefore, 1/3 × 3/5 = 1/5.