math help

What is 88/15 + 5/6?

What is 88/15 + 5/6?

This is how you add

88
15
+
5
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 5 by 15, and get 75, then multiply 15 by 6 and get 90.

5/6 times 15

The problem now has new fractions to add:

528
90
+
75
90

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can add the numerators.

528 + 75 = 603

This yields the answer

603
90

Step 3

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

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

Nope! So now we try the next greatest prime number, 3...

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

603
90
÷ 3 =
201
30

Let's try dividing by that again...

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

201
30
÷ 3 =
67
10

Let's try dividing by that again...

Nope! So now we try the next greatest prime number, 5...

Nope! So now we try the next greatest prime number, 7...

Nope! So now we try the next greatest prime number, 11...

No good. 11 is larger than 10. So we're done reducing.

There you have it! Here's the final answer to 88/15 + 5/6

88
15
+
5
6
=
67
10
© 2014 Randy Tayler