Question

Luis skates 2/3 mile from his home to school. Isabella skates 2/4 mile to get to school. Who skates father?

Answer 1

In order to figure out whether Luis or Isabella skates farther to get to school, we have to create a common denominator between the two fractions that represent the distance that each person walks.

The least common denominator of 3 and 4 is 12.  This means that we have to change both fractions into equal fractions with denominators of 12.

To figure this out, we must set up a proportion.
2/3 = x/12
To solve this proportion, we must cross-multiply the fractions.  We get:
24 = 3x
If we divide both sides by the coefficient of x which is 3, to get the variable x alone, we get:
x = 8

Therefore, 2/3 = 8/12, so Luis skates 8/12 mile from his home to school.

If we do the same process for the 2/4 mile to get to school for Isabella, we get 6/12, because both fractions are equal to 1/2.

Therefore, we know that Luis skates 8/12 mile to school and Isabella skates 6/12 mile to get to school.  Because they have the same denominator, we can just compare the numerators.  We know that 8 is greater than 6, thus Luis skates farther to get to school.