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Adding mixed numbers with like denominators

Think of a mixed numbers as a number AND a fraction. You can add numbers....you can add fractions with like denominators. Therefore, you can add mixed numbers! Watch. Created by Sal Khan.

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Video transcript

Let's add these two mixed numbers. 2 and 5/13 plus 7 and 6/13. And the way I like to think about in my head, I like to separate out the mixed numbers into the whole number component and the fractional component. So we can rewrite 2 and 5/13 as 2 plus 5 over 13. And then we can write that plus. And then 7 and 6/13, we can rewrite as plus 7 plus 6/13. So all I did is I rewrote this. And I essentially expanded it out. I broke up the mixed numbers into their whole number parts and their fractional parts. And then what I like to do is I like to add the whole number parts. So this 2 plus this 7, so I'll do that. So I'll do the 2 plus 7 over here. I'll add those up. And to that, I will add the fractional parts. So to that, I will add the 5/13 to the 6/13. So if we add the whole number parts, 2 plus 7 is 9, and the fractional parts, they already have the same denominator in this problem. 5/13 plus 6/13, same denominator. You're going to get 11/13. 5 plus 6 is 11. So you get 9 plus 11/13. Well, that's just the same thing as 9 and 11/13. And we are done.