math help

What is 5/100 + 3/10?

What is 5/100 + 3/10?

This is how to add

5
100
+
3
10

Step 1

Our denominators (bottom numbers) don't match, so we can't add yet.

Since 10 is evenly divided by 100, we can multiply just one term to get a common denominator.

Multiply 3 by 10, and get 30, then we multiply 10 by 10 and get 100.

3/10 times 10

The problem now has new fractions to add:

5
100
+
30
100

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can add the numerators.

5 + 30 = 35

The sum we get is

35
100

Step 3

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

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

Nope. Try the next prime number, 3...

Nope. Try the next prime number, 5...

Are both the numerator and the denominator evenly divisible by 5? Yes! So we reduce it:

35
100
÷ 5 =
7
20

Now, try the same number again.

Nope. Try the next prime number, 7...

Nope. Try the next prime number, 11...

No good. 11 is larger than 7. So we're done reducing.

Congratulations! Here's your final answer to 5/100 + 3/10

5
100
+
3
10
=
7
20
© 2014 Randy Tayler