Question

What is 3 1/4 - (-5/8)

Answer 1

First we need to find a common denominator;

3 1/4 and -5/8 have a common denominator of 8

-5/8 already has 8 now we alter 3 1/4 to have 8 as the denominator as well.

if we make 3 1/4 into an improper fraction we would get 13/4

13/4 x 2/2 = 26/8, because 2 x 4 = 8 so we also apply that to the numerator

Now we have;

26/8 - (-5/8)

the two negatives combine to make a positive:

26/8 + 5/8

= 31/8 which simplifies to

3 7/8