Quandaries
and Queries
Sam and Mary each owned one-half stock in a printing company. Sam sold 2/3 of his stock to Mary. What fractional part of the printing business does Mary now own?
Tracy
Parent
Secondary
Hi Tracy,
Sam had one-half of a stock and he sold two-thirds of it to Mary. Two-thirds of one-half is one-third so he sold one-third of the printing company stock to Mary. Mary already owned one-half of a stock so now she own one-half plus one-third of a stock.
To add 1/2 and 1/3 you need a common denominator. Two times three is six so six is a common denominator. Thus
1/2 + 1/3 = 3/6 + 2/6 = 5/6
Thus Mary now own five-sixths of a stock in the printing company.
Penny