John, Tim, & Mike are painting a fence. John paints 1/4 and Tim paints 2/5 of the fence. How much of the fence is left for mike to paint?

Question

fraction word problem

Answer 1

You divide first of all, and take the reciprocal of 2/5 and swich the number to 5/2. Now you multiply next. 1/4 x 5/2 = 5/8. 5/8 is in its lowest terms so that is the answer. 5/8

Comments

Take a look at Fermat's answer below. I think he got it right and he explains it well. See if you can understand his reasoning and compare his reasoning with yours till it's clear in your mind. Picture a 20-foot long fence. John paints a quarter: 5 feet; Tim paints two fifths: 2*4=8 feet. So that's 5+8=13 feet painted, leaving 20-13=7 feet for Mike to paint. 7 feet is 7/20 of 20 feet. See how it works?

Answer 2

John, Tim, & Mike are painting a fence. John paints 1/4 and Tim paints 2/5 of the fence. How much of the fence is left for mike to paint?

The fractions of the fence painted so far are 1/4 and 2/5.

Adding the fractions together gives us: 1/4 + 2/5 = 5/20 + 8/20 = 13/20.

i.e. so far, 13/20 of the fence have been painted.

Therfore the fraction of the fence still left to be painted = 1 - 13/20 = 7/20

Answer: The fraction left for Mike to paint is 7/20

Comments

WHAT!? I don't think that is right.

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John, Tim and Mike each paint a fraction of the fence.

The three fractions are,

1/4. 2/5, and 7/20

Adding the fractions together gives us,

1/4 + 2/5 + 7/20 = 5/20 + 8/20 + 7/20 = (5 + 8 + 7)/20 = 20/20 = 1

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Yeah i got it wrong. :( I am sorry. I am. I got more points than I had today. I got alot more! WOW