Joseph and Shannon are trying to guess what fraction of the students in their school drama club have blue eyes.

Joseph guesses 5/6 and Shannon guesses 7/12.
a) What is the difference between their guesses?
Give your answer as a fraction in its simplest form.
2/3 of the students in their school drama club have blue eyes.
b) Whose guess is closer to the actual value?

1 answer

a) To find the difference between their guesses, we need to subtract Shannon's guess from Joseph's guess:

5/6 - 7/12 = 10/12 - 7/12 = 3/12 = 1/4

So, the difference between their guesses is 1/4.

b) Since the actual value is 2/3, we need to find which guess is closer to 2/3.

First, let's find the difference between Joseph's guess and the actual value:

|2/3 - 5/6| = |4/6 - 5/6| = |-1/6| = 1/6

Now, let's find the difference between Shannon's guess and the actual value:

|2/3 - 7/12| = |8/12 - 7/12| = |1/12| = 1/12

Since 1/12 is smaller than 1/6, Shannon's guess is closer to the actual value of 2/3.