Martina made a block tower that was 2 1/3 ft tall. she had a toy giraffe that was 1 1/3 ft tall. she had another tower that was 3 1/4 ft tall.

how tall would the towers be if placed one on top of the other?

a. 4 2/3 ft

b. 5 7/12 ft

c. 6 2/3 ft

d. 6 11/12 ft

The answer is B. 2 1/3+ 3 1/4 equals5 7/12

To add fractions, you need to have a common denominator, its usually easiest to find the least common denominator so you dont have to simplify over and over again. if you add the whole numbers you get 6. you can also add the 1/3 + 1/3 because the same denominator you get 2/3 and still have to add 1/4. their common denominator is 12, to make the denominators 12, you have to do the same thing to the numerator that you do to the denominator. so to make 2/3 have a denominator of 12, you have to multiply both the top and bottom by 4 so you get 8/12. then doing the same for the 1/4 you multiply the top and bottom by 3 and get 3/12. adding 8/12 + 3/12 = 11/12 plus the 6 whole numbers so the answer is D. 6 11/12 ft. this is also more visual with the fractions so try writing it out to see if you understand. let me now if you need more help or want to try a few other examples, thanks!