what is the difference between -7 and -3 2/3

Answer 1

When finding the difference, you need to pay attention to the order of the numbers in the question. This is because when you find the difference, you are subtracting numbers. The order makes a big difference in subtraction!

Here, the -7 comes first, so you set up the problem like this:

( -7 ) - ( -3 2/3 )

Then change both numbers into fractions.

( - 7/1 ) - ( -11/3)

Then, because you are subtracting a negative number, that is the same thing as adding the positive version of the number.

( -7/1 ) + ( 11/3 )

Because these numbers have opposite signs, we actually need to subtract them. Let's change -7/1 into a fraction with a denominator of 3 to make this easier!

( - 21/3 ) + ( 11/3 )

The new fraction is:

( -21 + 11 ) / ( 3 )

or

-10/3

I hope this helped!