Adding mixed numbers, step by step

A mixed number is a whole and a fraction traveling together.

The question

3 + 3

3+3
3=3
3=3
3+3
+=
+=
3+3=6
+=
3+3=6
=6
  1. A mixed number is a whole and a fraction stuck together. Deal with them separately — wholes with wholes, sevenths with halves.
  2. The fraction halves are different sizes, so cut both into 14ths first: 3 1/7 is 3 2/14, and 3 1/2 is 3 7/14.
  3. The fractions go together first: 2/14 + 7/14 = 9/14.
  4. Then the wholes: 3 + 3 = 6.
  5. So the answer is 6 9/14.

How it works.

  1. 01

    A mixed number is a whole and a fraction stuck together. Deal with them separately — wholes with wholes, sevenths with halves.

  2. 02

    The fraction halves are different sizes, so cut both into 14ths first: 3 1/7 is 3 2/14, and 3 1/2 is 3 7/14.

  3. 03

    The fractions go together first: 2/14 + 7/14 = 9/14.

  4. 04

    Then the wholes: 3 + 3 = 6.

  5. 05

    So the answer is 6 9/14.