Question

The Western inventory was written by 4 different authors. Author A wrote 1/4 of the books, author b wrote 5/16 of the books, and author c write 3/8 of the books. What part of the inventory did author D write?

Answer 1

Answer:

Author D write 1/16 of the total number of books.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let the total number of books be b.  Then the amounts written by the four authors would be represented by:

(1/4)A

(5/16)A

(3/8)A

( ? )A

Add these together, realizing that the LCD here is 16:

(4/16)A

(5/16)A

(6/16)A

( ? )  A

------------

(15/16)A must then equal the remainder of the work:  (16/16)A

Thus, Author D wrote (1/16)A of the books.  (Note that 4/16 + 5/16 + 6/16 + 1/16 = 1)

Author D write 1/16 of the total number of books.