Question

Dustin placed an order for 5/12 of a sack of brown lentils and 3/8 of a sack of green lentils. How much more brown lentils did Dustin order?

Answer 1

It is asking how much more brown lentils than green lentils there are, so subtract (amount of brown lentils) - (amount of green lentils).

However, we’re dealing with fractions with different denominators. So look at the denominators 8 and 12, find the least common multiple between them. Start listing out multiples of 8 and 12, find the smallest term common to both lists.

Once you have the LCM, change both fraction’s denominators to this new LCM by multiplying both the numerator and the denominator by the appropriate quantity.

Finally, once both denominators are equal, subtract the two quantities.

Answer 2

Thank you!