Word Problem Question below

Question

hi sorry I'm stumped on another one. Pls help: A teacher bought 10 1/3 pounds of ground beef. She used 6 1/2 to make hamburgers. How much beef did she have left?

Answer 1

Hello Sam,

 

There are two ways that you can do this. I will show you one way in hopes you understand.

 

English: Convert both mixed numbers to improper fractions

 

Math: 10 1/3 ---> 31/3 and 6 1/2 ---> 13/2

 

English: In order to find out how much is left you have to subtract the two amounts. In order to subtract fractions, the denominators must be the same. So you have to convert each fraction to like denominators by finding the LCD which is 6 in this case. 

 

Math: 31/3 = 62/6 and 13/2 = 39/6

 

English: Subtract

 

Math: 62/6 - 39/6 = 23/6

 

English: Convert Improper Fraction answer back to a mixed number

 

Math: 3 5/6

 

English: Write Answer

 

She had 3 5/6 pounds of ground beef left