math help

What is 88/15 + 1/6?

What is 88/15 + 1/6?

Here's how you add

88
15
+
1
6

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 88 by 6, and get 528, then we multiply 15 by 6 and get 90.

88/15 times 6

Do the same for the second term. We multiply 1 by 15, and get 15, then multiply 15 by 6 and get 90.

1/6 times 15

The problem now has new fractions to add:

528
90
+
15
90

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can add the numerators.

528 + 15 = 543

The sum we get is

543
90

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:

543
90
÷ 3 =
181
30

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. So next you try the next prime number, which is 17...

No good. So next you try the next prime number, which is 19...

No good. So next you try the next prime number, which is 23...

No good. So next you try the next prime number, which is 29...

No good. So next you try the next prime number, which is 31...

No good. 31 is larger than 30. So we're done reducing.

And we're done! Here's the final answer to 88/15 + 1/6

88
15
+
1
6
=
181
30
© 2014 Randy Tayler