Question

Sam needs

5_
6
cup mashed bananas and
3_
4
cup mashed
strawberries for a recipe. He wants to find whether he needs
more bananas or more strawberries. How can he write 5_
6
and
3_
4
as a pair of fractions with a common denominator?

Answer 1

He needs more bananas. (
`(10)/(12)+(9)/(12)`)

Explanation:

Find the least common multiple for both denominators.

For 6 and 4 in the denominators, their L.C.M is 12.

Cup of mashed bananas:

Multiply both the numerator and denominator by 2.

`(5)/(6) = (10)/(12)`

Cup of mashed strawberries:

Multiply both the numerator and denominator by 3.

`(3)/(4) = (9)/(12)`

Since the denominators are now the same, we can compare them in the same ratio.

`(10)/(12) > (9)/(12)`

Therefore he needs
`(1)/(12)` more mashed bananas than mashed strawberries.