Find a common denominator: 2/7


or start fraction, 3, divided by, 8, end fraction
3/8

1 answer

To find a common denominator for the fractions \(\frac{2}{7}\) and \(\frac{3}{8}\), you need to find the least common multiple (LCM) of the denominators, which are 7 and 8.

The multiples of 7 are: 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, ...

The multiples of 8 are: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, ...

The smallest common multiple in both lists is 56.

Now, we'll convert each fraction to have this common denominator:

  1. For \(\frac{2}{7}\): \[ \frac{2}{7} \times \frac{8}{8} = \frac{16}{56} \]

  2. For \(\frac{3}{8}\): \[ \frac{3}{8} \times \frac{7}{7} = \frac{21}{56} \]

So, the fractions \(\frac{2}{7}\) and \(\frac{3}{8}\) converted to have a common denominator of 56 are:

\[ \frac{16}{56} \text{ and } \frac{21}{56} \]