Helen spent $42 on a blouse. She spent ⁴₁₁ of her remaining money on a jacket and a skirt, after which half her money was left.

1. What fraction of her money did she spend on the blouse?
2. The cost of the skirt is ¹₆ the cost of the jacket. How much more does the jacket cost than the skirt?

Blouse	Remaining amount
	Jacket	Skirt	Left
$42	4		7
1x7			1x7
3 u	4 u		7 u

(a)
The amount of money left is repeated. Make the numerators the same LCM of 1 and 7 is 7. 

1x72x7 of total money = 711 of remaining amount
714 of total money = 711 of remaining amount

Fraction of her money that she spent on the blouse
= ^Blouse_Total 
= ³₁₄ 

(b)
Cost of the blouse = 3 u

3 u = 42

1 u = 42 ÷ 3 = 14

Cost of the jacket and the skirt
= 4 u
= 4 x 14
= $56

Cost of the skirt = 1 p
Cost of the jacket = 6 p

Total cost of the skirt and the jacket 
= 1 p + 6 p
= 7 p

7 p = 56

1 p = 56 ÷ 7 = 8

Amount that the jacket was more than the skirt
= 6 p - 1 p
= 5 p
= 5 x 8
= $40

Answer(s): (a) ³₁₄; (b) $40