Question

Subtract. Write your answer as a mixed number in simplest form.5 1/10- 2 1/4

Answer 1

`5(1)/(10)-2(1)/(4)`

To subtract mixed numbers, we'll have to convert each mixed number to improper fraction first by multiplying the whole number to its denominator and adding the result to its numerator. Hence, we have:

`\begin{gathered} =((5*10)+1)/(10)-((2*4)+1)/(4) \\ =(51)/(10)-(9)/(4) \end{gathered}`

Next, let's convert them into similar fractions by having the same denominator. We can multiply the first fraction by 2 and the second fraction by 5 so that they will have the same denominator that is 20.

`\begin{gathered} =((51)/(10)*(2)/(2))_{}-((9)/(4)*(5)/(5)) \\ =(102)/(20)-(45)/(20) \end{gathered}`

Now that they have similar denominators, we can now subtract the fraction by subtracting its numerator.

`=(102-45)/(20)=(57)/(20)`

Lastly, let's simplify the answer back to a mixed number which is:

`(57)/(20)=2(17)/(20)`

The answer is 2 and 17/20.