Middle School

Aleena has a 1-gallon watering can that is full of water.She uses 3/8gallon to water her roses and 1/3gallon to water her geraniums. How much water did Aleena use to water both the roses and geraniums?

Aleena has a 1 gallon watering can that is full of water She uses 3 8gallon to water her roses and 1 3gallon to water

Answer :

once you find your common denominator (24) you have to do the same to the numerator. So for the roses it would be 9/24 + 8/24 which is 17/24 for both roses and geraniums

Final answer:

Aleena used a total of 17/24 gallon of water to water her roses and geraniums by adding together 3/8 gallon and 1/3 gallon after converting them to have the same denominator.

Explanation:

Aleena used 3/8 gallon to water her roses and 1/3 gallon to water her geraniums. To determine the total amount of water used, we need to add these two quantities together. Since these are fractions with different denominators, we need to find a common denominator before we can add them. The least common denominator (LCD) for 8 and 3 is 24.

First, convert the fractions to have the LCD as the denominator:


  • 3/8 = 9/24 (because 3 × 3 = 9 and 8 × 3 = 24)
  • 1/3 = 8/24 (because 1 × 8 = 8 and 3 × 8 = 24)

Now, add the two fractions:

9/24 + 8/24 = 17/24

Thus, Aleena used 17/24 gallon of water in total to water her roses and geraniums.