math help

What is 45/3 + 6/8?

What is 45/3 + 6/8?

This is how to add

45
3
+
6
8

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 8, and get 360, then we multiply 3 by 8 and get 24.

45/3 times 8

Do the same for the second term. We multiply 6 by 3, and get 18, then multiply 3 by 8 and get 24.

6/8 times 3

The problem now has new fractions to add:

360
24
+
18
24

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can add the numerators.

360 + 18 = 378

The sum we get is

378
24

Step 3

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

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

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

378
24
÷ 2 =
189
12

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 3...

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

189
12
÷ 3 =
63
4

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. 5 is larger than 4. So we're done reducing.

And we're done! Here's the final answer to 45/3 + 6/8

45
3
+
6
8
=
63
4
© 2014 Randy Tayler