Question

Mrs. Smith washed 2 5 of her laundry. Her son washed 1 3 of it. Who washed most of the laundry? How much of the laundry still needs to be washed?

Answer 1

a) The person who washed the most of the laundry is Mrs Smith

b) 4/15 of the laundry is left to wash

Explanation:

Mrs. Smith washed 2/5 of her laundry. Her son washed 1/3 of it.

a) Who washed most of the laundry?

We convert the fraction of laundry each person washed to decimal

Mrs Smith = 2/5 = 0.4

Her son = 1/3 = 0.333

Therefore, the person who washed the most of the laundry is Mrs Smith

b) How much of the laundry still needs to be washed?

Let us total laundry = 1

=1 - ( 2/5 + 1/3)

Lowest Common Denominator is 15

=1- (3 × 2 + 5 × 1/15)

= 1 - (6 +5/15)

=1 - 11/15

= 4/15