Question

Professor shepherd weighed two pieces of metal for an experiment. the piece of iron weighed 7/12 of a pound and the piece of aluminum weighed 1/2 of a pound. how much more did the piece of iron weigh than the piece of aluminum?

Answer 1

The iron weighed 1/12 pound more than the aluminum.

Explanation:

The weight of the aluminum is given as 1/2 pound. But that can also be written as 6/12 pound.

This is a subtraction problem (subtracting fractions...so also a common denominator problem)

In order to subtract fractions you have to get a common denominator.

7/12 - 1/2

= 7/12 - 6/12

= 1/12

The iron is 1/12 pound heavier than the aluminum.