
Laura F. answered 05/31/13
Highly Qualified Mathematics Tutor
First you will want to convert this to an improper fraction. This can be done by multiplying the whole number by the denominator (bottom of the fraction) and adding the result to the numerator (top of the fraction): 2 and 1/2 = (2*2+1) / 2 = 5/2 .... 4 and 2/3 = (4*3 +2) / 3 = 14/3 .... Then you will want to find a common denominator for these two fractions. 2 and 3 both go into 6 evenly, so this will work as a common denominator. In order to make a common denominator you should multiply the numerator and denominator by the number that will make the denominator 6: Multiply top and bottom of 5/2 by 3 to get 15/6 .... Multiply top and bottom of 14/3 by 2 to get 28/6 .... Then we need to add these two fractions. When adding fractions, you add only the numerator and the answer keeps the same common denominator as the fractions we just got above: 15/6 + 28/6 = (15+28) / 6 = 43/6. If having an improper fraction is okay, you're done. If this must be written as a mixed number, figure out how many whole times 6 goes into 43 and find the remainder. It turns out that 6 goes into 43 seven times with a remainder of one (6*7 = 42). Therefore the mixed number will be 7 and 1/6
Monica M.
11/03/16