Half of a large pizza is cut into 4 equal-sized pieces, and the other half is cut into 6 equal-sized pieces. If a person were to eat 1 of the larger pieces and 2 of the smaller pieces, what fraction of the pizza would remain uneaten?
A. 5/12
B. 13/24
C. 7/12
D. 2/3
E. 17/24Imagine you cut the pizza in half and divide one of the half-circles into 4 equal slices.
One of these slices would be (1/2) (1/4), or 1/8 of the entire pizza
Then imagine that you cut the other half-circle into 6 equal slices
One of these slices would be (1/2) (1/6), or 1/12 of the entire pizza
Basically, we now know that one of the "larger pieces" is 1/8 of the entire pizza and one of the "smaller pieces" is 1/12 of the entire pizza.
If a person were to eat 1 large piece and 2 small pieces, how much of the pizza would be eaten?
1 (1/8) + 2 (1/12) = 1/8 + 1/6 = 14/48 = 7/24
This tell us how much of the pizza was eaten.
The question, however, asks us how much of the pizza would REMAIN UNEATEN.
The answer is therefore 1 - (7/24) = 17/24
(E) is your answer.