What is 1/4 + 1/8?

Here's how to add

Step 1

We have to make sure the denominators are equal.

Since 4 is evenly divided by 8, we can multiply just one term to get a common denominator.

Multiply 1 by 2, and get 2, then we multiply 4 by 2 and get 8.

The problem now has new fractions to add:

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can add the numerators.

2 + 1 = 3

The sum we get is

Step 3

The last step is to reduce the fraction if we can.

To find out, we try dividing it by 2...

No good. So next you try the next prime number, which is 3...

No good. So next you try the next prime number, which is 5...

No good. 5 is larger than 3. So we're done reducing.

And we're done! Here's the final answer to 1/4 + 1/8