Question

Neil has 3 partially full cans of white paint.They contain 1/3 gallon,1/5 gallon,and 1/2 gallon of paint.About how much paint does neil have in all

more than 2 gallons, less than 1 1/2 gallons, between 1 1,2 and 2 gallons

Answer 1

less than 1 1/2 gallons

Explanation:

1/3 + 1/6 = 1/2, so the sum of the three cans is more than 1 by the difference between 1/5 and 1/6. That difference is 1/30 gallon. The sum is 1 1/30 gallons, which is less than 1 1/2 gallons.

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A suitable common denominator is 2·3·5 = 30. Then the sum of the fractions is ...

1/3 + 1/5 + 1/2

= 10/30 + 6/30 + 15/30

= 31/30 = 1 1/30 . . . . . less than 1 1/2

In decimal, 1/3 ≈ 0.333, 1/5 = 0.200, 1/2 = 0.500, so the sum is ...

0.333 +0.200 +0.500 = 1.033

which is less than 1.5.