math help

What is 96/2 + 5/7?

What is 96/2 + 5/7?

Here's how you add

96
2
+
5
7

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 96 by 7, and get 672, then we multiply 2 by 7 and get 14.

96/2 times 7

Do the same for the second term. We multiply 5 by 2, and get 10, then multiply 2 by 7 and get 14.

5/7 times 2

The problem now has new fractions to add:

672
14
+
10
14

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can add the numerators.

672 + 10 = 682

The sum we get is

682
14

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:

682
14
÷ 2 =
341
7

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...

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. 11 is larger than 7. So we're done reducing.

And we're done! Here's the final answer to 96/2 + 5/7

96
2
+
5
7
=
341
7
© 2014 Randy Tayler