Question

11/12 + (-7/12) = ? I wasn’t paying attention in class so i dont understand how to do this. Can someone please help? Thank you.

Answer 1

You're probably working on addition and subtraction of fractions, and luckily in this problem they both have the same denominator.

In case you need better understanding, the numerator is the number on top of the fraction bar, and the denominator is the number under the fraction bar. Imagine a pizza cut into 12 slices. 11/12 is 11 out of those 12 slices of pizza, and 7/12 is 7 out of those 12 slices of pizza.

With that out of the way, if you ever see a "+" followed by a "-," adding a negative is the same as subtracting a positive, so 11/12 + (-7/12) is the same as 11/12 - 7/12.

Since both of the numbers have the same denominator, you can subtract straight across.

11/12 - 7/12 = 5/12

Overall, 11/12 + (-7/12) = 11/12 - 7/12 = 5/12.