What is 1/12 + 2/8?

This is how you add

Step 1

Can you add yet? Nope! The denominators don't match. We need a common denominator. So next we take both denominators and multiply them. Next, take each numerator and multiply it by the denominator of the other term.

So, we multiply 1 by 8, and get 8, then we multiply 12 by 8 and get 96.

Now for the second term. You multiply 2 by 12, and get 24, then multiply 12 by 8 and get 96.

We now have a new problem, that looks like this:

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can add the numerators.

8 + 24 = 32

That gives us the sum, which is

Step 3

Now, do we need to simplify this fraction?

First, we attempt to divide it by 2...

Are both the numerator and the denominator evenly divisible by 2? Yes! So we reduce it:

So far so good... let's try to divide by that number again.

Are both the numerator and the denominator evenly divisible by 2? Yes! So we reduce it:

So far so good... let's try to divide by that number again.

Are both the numerator and the denominator evenly divisible by 2? Yes! So we reduce it:

So far so good... let's try to divide by that number again.

Are both the numerator and the denominator evenly divisible by 2? Yes! So we reduce it:

So far so good... let's try to divide by that number again.

Are both the numerator and the denominator evenly divisible by 2? Yes! So we reduce it:

So far so good... let's try to divide by that number again.

No good. 2 is larger than 1. So we're done reducing.

And we're done! Here's the final answer to 1/12 + 2/8