LESSON 1: Adding Fractions with Like Denominators

1. Rachel rode her bike for one-fifth of a mile on Monday and two-fifths of a mile on Tuesday. How
many miles did she ride altogether?

Analysis: To solve this problem, we will add two fractions with like denominators.

1 2 1+ 2 3
Solution: + = =
5 5 5 5

Answer: Rachel rode her bike for three-fifths of a mile altogether.

2. A pizza was divided into eight equal parts (slices). If Jenny ate five slices and Eric ate two slices,
then what part of the pizza did they eat altogether?

Analysis: Jenny ate "5 eighths" of the pizza and Eric ate "2 eighths". In each of these fractions,
the unit is the denominator, eighths. Since both fractions have the same units, we can add them
together.

5 2 7
Solution: + =
8 8 8

3. Grade 5 henry ate 3/6 of pizza john ate 2 1/2 of the same pizza. how many pizza they eat all?

Solution: 3/6 + 2 ½
3/6 = ½
½+2½
2 2/2
3

Answer: They ate 3 pizza.

Summary: To add two or more fractions that have the same denominators, add the numerators and place
the resulting sum over the common denominator. Simplify your result, if necessary.
LESSON 2: Subtracting Fractions with Like
Denominators

1. Nick was at a party and saw a pizza divided into eight equal parts (slices). By the time he got to
the food table, only 7 slices of pizza were there. If Nick ate 2 of those slices, then what part of the
pizza was left for other guests to eat?

Analysis: We need to find the difference between 7 eighths and 2 eighths. The denominator of a
fraction names the unit. The numerator indicates how many there are.

7 2 5
Solution: - =
8 8 8
Five-eighths of the pizza was left for other guests to eat.

2. Marvin has ¾ yard of material. He uses ¼ to cover a chair. How much yard is he left with?

3 1 1
Solution: - =
4 4 2

3. A recipe needs 3/4 teaspoon black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper. How much more black
pepper does the recipe need?

This fraction word problem requires subtraction.

Solution:

The fact that the problem is asking how much more black pepper the recipe needs is an indication
that 3/4 is bigger than 1/4.
3/4 - 1/4 = 2/4 = ½
The black pepper is 1/2 of a teaspoon more than the red pepper.

Summary: To subtract two or more fractions that have the same denominators, subtract the numerators
and place the resulting difference over the common denominator. Simplify your result, if necessary.
LESSON 3: Multiplying fractions
1. A recipe needs 1/4 tablespoon salt. How much salt does 8 such recipe need?

Solution: This word problem requires multiplication of fractions. Instead of adding 1/4 eight
times, we can just do the following:
1/4 × 8 = 1/4 × 8/1 = (1 × 8) (4 × 1) = 8/4 = 2

To make 8 recipes, we need 2 tablespoons of salt.

2. Peter's truck gets him 10 2/3 miles per gallon. Suppose Peter's tank is empty and he puts 5 1/2
gallons, how far can Peter go with the truck?

Solution: This word problem requires too multiplication. Also, note that both numbers are
mixed numbers. Thus, you have to convert them to improper fractions before you perform the
multiplication.

10 2/3 × 5 1/2 = (10 × 3 + 2) 3 × (5 × 2 +1)/2

10 2/3 × 5 1/2 = (30 + 2) 3 × (10 + 1)/2

10 2/3 × 5 1/2 = 32/3 × 11/2

10 2/3 × 5 1/2 = (32 × 11) (3 × 2)

10 2/3 × 5 1/2 = 352/6 = 58.66 miles

3. Max has 1/10 of a cup of powdered sugar. He sprinkles 2/3 of the sugar onto a plate of
brownies and sprinkles the rest onto a plate of lemon cookies. How much sugar does Max
sprinkle on the brownies?

Since the denominators differ, we need to find a least common multiple to add the fractions
To see the LCM calculation for our denominators 10 and 3, Our LCM is 30
1× 3 3 3+20+0 23 30
= = =
10× 3 30 30 30 30
2× 10 20 30−23 7
= =
3× 10 30 30 30
 x 0 7
= ANSWER:
x 30 30

LESSON 4: Solving More Decimal Word Problems

1. School lunches cost $14.50 per week. About how much would 15.5 weeks of lunches cost?
Analysis: We need to estimate the product of $14.50 and 15.5. To
do this, we will round one factor up and one factor down.
Estimate:

Answer: The cost of 15.5 weeks of school lunches would be about $200.

2. A student earns $11.75 per hour for gardening. If she worked 21 hours this month, then how
much did she earn?

Analysis: To solve this problem, we will multiply $11.75 by 21.

Multiply:

Answer: The student will earn $246.75 for gardening this month.

3. Rick's car gets 29.7 miles per gallon on the highway. If his fuel tank holds 10.45 gallons, then
how far can he travel on one full tank of gas?
Analysis: To solve this problem, we will multiply 29.7 by 10.45
Multiply:

Answer: Rick can travel 310.365 miles with one full tank of gas.
LESSON 5: Dividing Decimals by Whole Numbers

1. The Lachance family drove cross country on a 4,615.8 mile trip in 49 days. Find the average
number of miles driven per day.

Analysis: We need to divide 4,615.8 by 49 to solve this problem.

Step 1: Estimate the quotient using compatible numbers.

Step 2: Use long division to find the quotient.

Decide where to place the first digit of the quotient.

Round to estimate the quotient digit.

Multiply, subtract and compare

Bring down the next digit from the dividend. Continue dividing.
Place the decimal point in the quotient.

Step 3: Compare your estimate with your quotient to verify that your answer makes sense

Our quotient of 94.2 makes sense since it is close to our estimate of 90.

Answer: The average number of miles driven per day was 94.2.