SOLUTION: Clyde took a taxi 1/4 of the distance to Bonnie's house and a bus for 1/3 of the distance to her house. Finally, he walked the remaining 5 miles to her house. How many miles did

Algebra ->  Numeric Fractions Calculators, Lesson and Practice -> SOLUTION: Clyde took a taxi 1/4 of the distance to Bonnie's house and a bus for 1/3 of the distance to her house. Finally, he walked the remaining 5 miles to her house. How many miles did       Log On


   



Question 7648: Clyde took a taxi 1/4 of the distance to Bonnie's house and a bus for 1/3 of the distance to her house. Finally, he walked the remaining 5 miles to her house. How many miles did Clyde travel in total?
I don't understand how to set up the problem. Thanks!

Answer by prince_abubu(198) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let's call the total distance D. 1/4 of the distance would be +%281%2F4%29D+. The next 1/3 of the distance is +%281%2F3%29D+, and after both distances are covered, there are 5 miles to go. So, just add up the three distances and they all should equal D:

+%281%2F4%29D+%2B+%281%2F3%29D+%2B+5+=+D+ <---- You've got fractions to work with here, so hang on.

+5+=+D+-+%281%2F4%29D+-+%281%2F3%29D+ <---- We just moved the fractional terms to the other side so they could be combined since they are like terms.

The right side of the equation really is a task for you to compute +1+-+1%2F4+-+1%2F3+. I trust that you know how to do that. That's actually equal to +12%2F12+-+3%2F12+-+4%2F12+ which brings you to +5%2F12+. The right side of your equation would then be +%285%2F12%29D+

+5+=+%285%2F12%29D+ <---- the 1 - 1/4 - 1/3, then multiplied by D

+5%2A%2812%2F5%29+=+D+ <---- multiply both sides by the reciprocal of 5/12, which is 12/5

+D+=+12+ <---- the 5 in the numerator cancels with the 5 in the denominator. The trip was 12 miles total.