Question

A shop is having its grand opening.The owner buys three `1/4` page ads, four `1/8` page ads, and ten `1/16` page ads. What is the total amount of ads space that the owner buys?

Answer 1

(3 x 4/16) + (4 x 2/16) + (10 x 1/16) = 30/16 = 1 14/16 pages = 1 7/8 pages of ad space

Explanation:

To add fractions you need to find a common denominator. The denominators in this problem are 4, 8 and 16, so the lowest common denominator is 16. To convert 1/4 to 16ths, multiply by 4/4 (which is the same as 1), and to convert 1/8 to 16ths, multiply by 2/2 (which is also the same as 1). Therefore, the problem becomes:

(3 x 1/4 x 4/4) + (4 x 1/8 x 2/2) + (10 x 1/16) = 12/16 + 8/16 + 10/16 = 30/16.

30/16 is an improper fraction with is the same as 1 14/16. 14/16 can be simplified to 7/8, so the answer is 1 7/8 pages of ads.