Question

Multiply and reduce to lowest form and convert into a mixed fraction:

a) 15 x 3/5
b) 4 x 1/3
c) 5/2 x 6​

Answer 1

a) 9

b)

`1 (1)/(3)`

c) 15

Explanation:

The first step is to cancel out the fraction's denominator if possible.

a)

`15 * (3)/(5)`

We can cancel the 5 out since 15 divided by 5 is 3. The answer that comes out is

`3 * (3)/(1)`

Since 3/1 is 3, we can now simplify the values:

`3 * 3 = 9`

b)

`4 * (1)/(3)`

4 is indivisible by three and gives a non-whole value. This is not what we need here.

Instead we should do the division rule and find the remainder.

In this case, 4 divided by 3 gives 1 with a remainder of 1.

`4 * (1)/(3) = (4)/(3)`

After we simplify the non-mixed fraction, we have to change it into a mixed fraction, which consists of a whole number and a fraction. We can split it into the following:

`(4)/(3) = 1r1`

The r1 is just the remainder of the fraction. Since we cannot remove 1 from the remainder, we add it back into the fraction's denominator of 3. This gives:

`(4)/(3) = 1 + (1)/(3) = 1 (1)/(3)`

c)

`(5)/(2) * 6`

For this part, we can cancel out 2 since 6 is divisible by 2. This gives:

`(5)/(1) * 3`

Since 5/1 is 5,

we can now solve part c:

`5 * 3 = 15`