what is the difference between 5/12 and 5/8?

Question

Greg cut two pieces of wood. The first piece has a length of 5/12 of a foot. The second piece has a length of 5/8 of a foot.

Between which two fractions on the given number line is the difference in the lengths of the two pieces of wood?

Answer 1

5/12 - 5/8  can be computed by converting each fraction to a common denominator (24):

 

10/24 - 15/24 = -5/24.

 

The number 5/24 is 0.2083333... in decimal form.

 

That is just a bit more than 0.2 (one fifth) and 0.21 (21/100). 

 

These are facts and this is a good place to stop.  However, there can be infinitely many ways to answer "Between which two fractions on the given number line is the difference" (it's not a very good question because you don't show us the specific number line!)