starz982 wrote:Carol spends 1/4 of her savings on a stereo and 1/3 less than she spent on the stere for a television. What fraction of her savings did she spend on the stereo and television?
a)1/4
b)2/7
c)5/12
d)1/2
e)7/12
please can anyone help me understand how to break down the process to obtain the answer
Hi starz982,
Picking numbers to make the problem less fuzzy is a great approach in word problems. And, if you get good at it, you will also understand the algebra much better.
In word problems involving fractions, picking the lowest common denominator is a great way to go. We see that the two denominators are 3 and 4. The lowest common denominator is 3*4 = 12.
Let her savings be 12.
She spent 1/4 of this on a stereo. What's 1/4 of 12? ...3, of cousre. So she spent 3 bucks on the stereo (what is this, the 70s?). And she spent on the television one-third less than what she spent on the stereo. Well, she spent 3 bucks on the stereo.
What number is 1/3 less than 3?
This can be read as "what number is 3 minus one-third of 3?"
A third of 3 is: 1/3*3 = 1. So, the number that is 1/3 less than 3 is: 3-1 = 2. So she spent 2 bucks on the TV.
She spent 3 + 2 bucks on the stereo and TV, for a total of 5. She started with 12. So the fraction of her savings spent on the TV and stereo is: 5/12, and choose Choice C.
