Question

2/5n+ 3/6+ 1/8n
what does it equal

Answer 1

`(21)/(40)n` +
`(1)/(2)`

Explanation:

The important part to understand about this problem is that you need to find a common denominator. You can ONLY add two fractions if they have the same denominator. A way to change the denominator of a fraction is to multiply the numerator and denominator of the fraction by the same number.

So, You want to make the 2/5n and 1/8n to have the same denominator so you can add them. An easy rule of thumb is multiply the one of the fraction by the other fraction's denominator, so in this problem:

`(2 * 8)/(5*8) n` and
`(1*5)/(8*5)n`

this comes out as

16/40n and 5/40n

NOW, they have the same denominator and you can add the numerators together to make it one happy fraction

`(16)/(40) + (5)/(40) = (16+5)/(40) = (21)/(40)`

Then, for the 3/6, you can simplify this fraction into:

1/2

This is because if you divide the top and bottom of the fraction by 3 like so:

`(3/3)/(6/3)` (Always make sure you do the same for the top as you do to the bottom)

This comes out as

`(1)/(2)`

Then for the full equation:

`(21)/(40) n + (1)/(2)`