ACT Math : How to find a complex fraction

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : How To Find A Complex Fraction

Simplify \frac{x + \frac{1}{x}}{x}\(\displaystyle \frac{x + \frac{1}{x}}{x}\)

Possible Answers:

\frac{x + 1}{x^{2}}\(\displaystyle \frac{x + 1}{x^{2}}\)

\frac{x^{2} + 1}{x^{2}}\(\displaystyle \frac{x^{2} + 1}{x^{2}}\)

\frac{x^{2} + 2x + 1}{x}\(\displaystyle \frac{x^{2} + 2x + 1}{x}\)

\frac{x^{2} + 1}{x}\(\displaystyle \frac{x^{2} + 1}{x}\)

\frac{x + 1}{x}\(\displaystyle \frac{x + 1}{x}\)

Correct answer:

\frac{x^{2} + 1}{x^{2}}\(\displaystyle \frac{x^{2} + 1}{x^{2}}\)

Explanation:

Simplify the complex fraction by multiplying by the complex denominator:

\frac{x + \frac{1}{x}}{x}\cdot \frac{x}{x}= \frac{x^{2} + 1}{x^{2}}\(\displaystyle \frac{x + \frac{1}{x}}{x}\cdot \frac{x}{x}= \frac{x^{2} + 1}{x^{2}}\)

Example Question #2 : How To Add And Subtract Fractions

Steven purchased \(\displaystyle 1\frac{2}{3}\:lbs\) of vegetables on Monday and \(\displaystyle 2\frac{3}{4}\:lbs\) of vegetables on Tuesday. What was the total weight, in pounds, of vegetables purchased by Steven?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 4\frac{3}{4}\:lbs\)

\(\displaystyle 4\frac{7}{12}\:lbs\)

\(\displaystyle 4\frac{5}{12}\:lbs\)

\(\displaystyle 4\frac{1}{3}\:lbs\)

\(\displaystyle 4\frac{1}{2}\:lbs\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 4\frac{5}{12}\:lbs\)

Explanation:

To solve this answer, we have to first make the mixed numbers improper fractions so that we can then find a common denominator. To make a mixed number into an improper fraction, you multiply the denominator by the whole number and add the result to the numerator. So, for the presented data:

 \(\displaystyle 1\frac{2}{3}=\frac{(3*1)+2}{3}=\frac{3+2}{3}=\frac{5}{3}\)

and

\(\displaystyle 2\frac{3}{4}=\frac{(4*2)+3}{4}=\frac{8+3}{4}=\frac{11}{4}\)

Now, to find out how many total pounds of vegetables Steven purchased, we need to add these two improper fractions together:

\(\displaystyle \frac{5}{3}+\frac{11}{4}\)  

To add these fractions, they need to have a common denominator. We can adjust each fraction to have a common denominator of \(\displaystyle 12\) by multiplying \(\displaystyle \frac{5}{3}\) by \(\displaystyle \frac{4}{4}\) and \(\displaystyle \frac{11}{4}\)by \(\displaystyle \frac{3}{3}\):

\(\displaystyle (\frac{5}{3}*\frac{4}{4})+(\frac{11}{4}*\frac{3}{3})\)

 To multiply fractions, just multiply across:

\(\displaystyle \frac{20}{12}+\frac{33}{12}\)

We can now add the numerators together; the denominator will stay the same:

\(\displaystyle \frac{53}{12}\)

Since all of the answer choices are mixed numbers, we now need to change our improper fraction answer into a mixed number answer. We can do this by dividing the numerator by the denominator and leaving the remainder as the numerator:

\(\displaystyle 53\div12=4\: r.\:5\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{53}{12}=4\frac{5}{12}\)

This means that our final answer is \(\displaystyle 4\frac{5}{12}\:lbs\).

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