im having trouble finguring out a problem.1/2-1/8=

Question

I reduced it dwn to 1/4 but the book says 13/24 i dont understand where i went wrong...pls help

Answer 1

when you add/subtract fractions, you want to find a common denominator so that all you would need to do is add/subtract the numerators...

for the problem you are asking about, 1/2 - 1/8, you would multiply 1/2 by 4/4 (notice that 4/4=1 which wouldn't change the value of the number you're multiplying it by)

so, (1/2)*(4/4) = 4/8

all that is left to do now is subtract:   4/8 - 1/8 = (4-1)/8 = 3/8

make sure you didn't leave a part of the problem out when you were writing it down, if not then check to see that you looked up the answer for the problem in the right chapter/section, if you did then it's probably just a typo in the text

Answer 2

(1/2)-(1/8) actually equals .375 or 3/8. Make sure you copied the problem down correctly from the book. Also, try the equation out on a calculator and see what you get! Hope that helps!  -Rachel