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A friend says -3/5y - 1/7y = 910 is y = 676. What mistake was made?

User Jozjan
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1 Answer

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1st step: get a common denominator
-3/5y - 1/7y = 910
-3/5 = -15/35
-1/7 = -5/35

2nd step: subtract and reduce
-15/35y - 5/35y = 910
-20/35y = 910
-4/7y = 910

3rd step: multiply both sides by the reciprocal
(-7/4)(-4/7y) = 910(-7/4)
y = -1592.5

the mistake was that they did not have common denominators in order to subtract correctly and so it shifted the whole process
User Richard Szalay
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