Question

After the party, 3 1⁄4 pecan pies remained. The next day, Edward's family ate 1 1⁄4 of a pie. How many pecan pies were left?

Answer 1

3 1/4 - 1 1/4 is 2, so 2 is your answer

Answer 2

We can solve this problem by applying a substraction directly to the fractions, and that is because, if there were 3 1/4 and the family ate 1 1/4, then we have to subtract those two equations to find the remaining part:
3 1/4 - 1 1/4
we separate the whole and fraction parts:
= (3 - 1) + (1/4 - 1/4)
= (2) + (0)
= 2
therefore there were left 2 pecan pies still