Have many candy bars?

Question

You have 1/2 of one kind of candy bar, and 1/4 of another kind of candy bar. How much of a candy bar do you have?

Answer 1

You just need to add them together.

 

1/2 + 1/4 =

 

But to add fractions, we must have a common denominator.  That would be 4.  So we multiply the first term by 2/2 (which is the same as multiplying it by 1, so it's not really changing).

 

1/2 x 2/2 = 2/4

 

2/4 + 1/4 =

 

Now we just add the numerators (2 and 1) and the denominator remains 4.

 

2/4 + 1/4 = 3/4

 

So you will have 3/4 of a candy bar.