Hector made a fruit salad with 7 2/5 pounds of melon and 1 1/2 pounds of berries. How many pounds of fruit did Hector use in all?

Question

Write your answer as a fraction or as a whole or mixed number.

pounds

Answer 1

To find the total weight of the fruit, we add the weight of the melon to the weight of the berries.

7 2/5 + 1 1/2 =

To add these fractions, we need to have a common denominator. The least common multiple of 5 and 2 is 10.

The equivalent fractions with a denominator of 10 are:

7 2/5 = 7 (2/5 * 2/2) = 7 (4/10) = 7 4/10

1 1/2 = 1 (1/2 * 5/5) = 1 (5/10) = 1 5/10

Now we can add the whole numbers:

7 + 1 = 8

And we can add the fractions:

4/10 + 5/10 = 9/10

So, the total weight of the fruit salad is 8 9/10 pounds.