Word Problem Wednesday: Summer Reading!

Greetings, problem solvers! This week's installment of Word Problem Wednesday is for all of you bibliophiles who savored every word on their summer reading lists this year. Give our word problem a try and check back tomorrow for the answer!

Yesterday, Max read half of a book. Today, he read a third of what was left. What fractional part of the whole book is left for Max to read?

Update: Here's the solution!

After Max reads half of the book, there’s one half left. A third of a half is a sixth, so Max has read ¹/₂ + ¹/₆ = ³/₆ + ¹/₆ = ⁴/₆ = ²/₃ of the book. That means he has ³/₃ – ²/₃ = ¹/₃ of the book left to read.