Katherine C. answered • 12/07/14
Tutor
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Medical Student for Math, Science, and Proofreading
Rachel used 3/8 of her money on blouses. So she's got 5/8 of her money remaining.
The leftover money, or "remainder", is 5/8. The second part of the question states that she used 2/5 of the remainder to buy 2 pairs of pants.
So, she used 2/5 of 5/8 on 2 pairs of pants. To find the fraction of a fraction, multiply the fractions together. Multiply the numerators together and multiply the denominators together.
2 x 5 = 10
5 x 8 = 40
2 x 5 = 10
5 x 8 = 40
She used 10/40 of her TOTAL money on 2 pairs of pants. That means each pair was 5/40 of her total money.
We know from the beginning of the question that she used 3/8 of her money on blouses.
Finding the common denominator is helpful here. 3/8 can be written as 15/40, which can be more easily compared to 10/40.
She spent 15/40 of her money on blouses, and we know one pair of pants was 5/40 of her money. If each pair of pants is worth 3 times as much as a blouse, for the price of one pair of pants she could buy 3 blouses.
Therefore, she bought 9 blouses. Think about it- if pants are 5/40 of her money, she could buy three pairs with 15/40. If 3 blouses are worth the price of one pair of pants, she bought 9 blouses with 15/40.
