Find a number which when added to the numerator and denominator of the fraction 3/5 gives 4/5

1 answer

Let the number we need to find be \( x \).

According to the problem, when \( x \) is added to both the numerator and the denominator of the fraction \( \frac{3}{5} \), the result should be \( \frac{4}{5} \).

We can express this mathematically as:

\[ \frac{3 + x}{5 + x} = \frac{4}{5} \]

To eliminate the fraction, we can cross-multiply:

\[ 5(3 + x) = 4(5 + x) \]

Expanding both sides gives:

\[ 15 + 5x = 20 + 4x \]

Now, we'll isolate \( x \) by first moving \( 4x \) to the left side and \( 15 \) to the right side:

\[ 5x - 4x = 20 - 15 \]

This simplifies to:

\[ x = 5 \]

Thus, the number we need is \( \boxed{5} \).

To verify, let's substitute \( x = 5 \) back into the fraction:

\[ \frac{3 + 5}{5 + 5} = \frac{8}{10} = \frac{4}{5} \]

Since this is correct, the solution \( x = 5 \) is verified.