Question

At the local nursery, 5/12 of the plants for sale are flowers and another 1/8 of them are bushes. What fraction of the plants for sale are either flowers or bushes? Write your answer as a fraction that is simplified. *

Answer 1

`(13)/(24)` of the plants for sale are either flowers or bushes.

Explanation:

After a careful reading, we conclude that the key part of the statement is: What fraction of the plants for sale are either flowers or bushes? Inside that question, we find the logical operator or, which is equivalent to a sum in algebraic language.

Let be
`x` and
`y` the fractions of flowers and bushes to be sold at the local nursery. Then, question above is translated into the following expression:

`z = x+y` (Eq. 1)

Where
`z` is the fraction of plants for sale that are either flowers or bushes, dimensionless.

If we know that
`x = (5)/(12)` and
`y = (1)/(8)`, then the fraction of plants for sale that are either flowers or bushes is:

`z = (5)/(12)+(1)/(8)`

`z = (40+12)/(96)`

`z = (52)/(96)`

`z = (26)/(48)`

`z = (13)/(24)`

`(13)/(24)` of the plants for sale are either flowers or bushes.