there are 72 new houses being built in a neighborhood. Last month, 1/3 of them were sold. This month, 5/8 of the remaining houses were sold. how many houses are left to be sold?

Answer: There are 18 houses left to be sold.

Step-by-step explanation:

If 1/3 of the houses sells, (1-1/3), or 2/3, of the houses are left. Similarly, after 5/8 of the number are sold, (1-5/8), or 3/8, are left. So the total number of houses left to be sold can be calculated as a product of these complementary fractions:

(72 new houses) x (1-1/3) x (1-5/8) =

(72 new houses) x (2/3) x (3/8) =

(72) x (1/4) = 18

There are 18 houses left to be sold.