Unlike denominators
- Input
- 1/4 + 1/6
- Expected output
- 5/12 ≈ 0,416666666666
LCM(4, 6) = 12, so 3/12 + 2/12 = 5/12. The decimal never ends because 12 carries the factor 3, absent from 10.
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adding fractions
Adding fractions is only a direct sum of numerators when the denominators already match. When they do not, each fraction has to be rewritten on a common base before adding, and that step is where most mistakes happen.
LCM(4, 6) = 12, so 3/12 + 2/12 = 5/12. The decimal never ends because 12 carries the factor 3, absent from 10.
Completes 1/4 + 1/6 + 1/3: 27/36 simplifies by 9 into 3/4, an exact result, decimal 0.75.
(3×4 + 5×2) / (2×4) = 22/8, which simplifies to 11/4; since the numerator exceeds the denominator, it becomes 2 whole units and 3/4.
Find a common denominator (the product or the LCM of the denominators), convert the fractions and add the numerators. Example: 1/2 + 1/3 = 3/6 + 2/6 = 5/6. The tool does this automatically.
Because fractions represent pieces sized by the denominator; numerators can only be added when the piece size matches, so 1/4 and 1/6 need to become twelfths (LCM(4,6) = 12) before adding.
Add two at a time and carry the result forward, since fraction addition is associative: 1/4 + 1/6 gives 5/12, and 5/12 + 1/3 closes at 3/4, the same result as adding all three at once.
Whenever the simplified numerator is larger than the denominator, as in 11/4, which the calculator rewrites as 2 whole units and 3/4 because 11 divided by 4 gives a quotient of 2 and a remainder of 3.
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