math help

What is 45/3 + 3/11?

What is 45/3 + 3/11?

This is how to add

45
3
+
3
11

Step 1

Of course, you can't add two fractions if the denominators (bottom numbers) don't match. To get a common denominator, multiply the denominators together. Then we fix the numerators by multiplying each one by their other term's denominator.

Now you multiply 45 by 11, and get 495, then we multiply 3 by 11 and get 33.

45/3 times 11

Do the same for the second term. We multiply 3 by 3, and get 9, then multiply 3 by 11 and get 33.

3/11 times 3

The problem now has new fractions to add:

495
33
+
9
33

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can add the numerators.

495 + 9 = 504

The sum we get is

504
33

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...

Are both the numerator and the denominator evenly divisible by 3? Yes! So we reduce it:

504
33
÷ 3 =
168
11

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

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

No good. So next you try the next prime number, which is 7...

No good. So next you try the next prime number, which is 11...

No good. So next you try the next prime number, which is 13...

No good. 13 is larger than 11. So we're done reducing.

And we're done! Here's the final answer to 45/3 + 3/11

45
3
+
3
11
=
168
11
© 2014 Randy Tayler