Quandaries
and Queries
My name is Ken and I am taking my GED course for my High School and have not been in a class for 35 years. I am doing this for re-training. I am at the part about fractions. Here is an example that I am having trouble with.
1 3/7 + 4 2/3 + 11/21
They have no common denominators. Could you PLEASE help me. If you could send me a step by step explanation it would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Ken,
1 = 7/7 so you can write 1 3/7 as 10/7. Also 4 = 12/3and hence 4 2/3 can be written 14/3. Hence the problem becomes
10/7 + 14/3 + 11/21
21 = 3 
7 and hence 21
is a common denominator. For the first fraction multiply the numerator
and denominator by 3 and in the second fraction multiply the numerator
and denominator by 7. This gives
10/7 + 14/3 + 11/21 = 30/21 + 98/21 + 11/21 = 139/21.
Penny