Find the distance between - 1/2 and 3/4

Question

Find the distance between- 1/2 and 3/4 

Answer 1

First, as you are dealing with fractions the best thing to do is to get a common denominator. In this case 4 will work because -1/2=-2/4 and 3/4 already has a 4 for the denominator. Now, imagine a number line divided into 4ths, or draw one on a piece of paper. Pick the middle line or point on the number line and label it "0". Two lines to the left would be -2/4 and 3 lines to the right would be 3/4. All you have to do now is count the lines from -2/4 to 3/4. You should come up with 5. Because each line is 1/4 your answer will be 5 X 1/4=5/4. Another way to do it is by subtracting -1/2 from 3/4:

                                         x=(3/4)-(-1/2)

                                         x=(3/4)+(1/2)      subtracting a negative is the same as adding the positive

                                         x=(3/4)+(2/4)      must have same denominator when adding/subtracting fractions

                                         x=5/4

Both methods give the same answer. Hope this helps!