Final answer:
To solve -2/5 + 1/8, we find a common denominator, which is 40, convert the fractions to have the same denominator, and then add the numerators to get -11/40 as the answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
To solve the fraction -2/5 + 1/8, we can use our intuition for the addition and subtraction of fractions by finding a common denominator. This allows us to combine the fractions in a way that is easy to compute. To find a common denominator, we should look for the smallest number that both denominators divide into evenly.
For 5 and 8, the smallest common denominator is 40. We can convert -2/5 to -16/40 (since 5 times 8 equals 40, multiply the numerator and the denominator of -2/5 by 8) and 1/8 to 5/40 (since 8 times 5 equals 40, multiply the numerator and the denominator of 1/8 by 5).
Now we have fractions with the same denominator: -16/40 + 5/40.
Next, we simply add the numerators while keeping the denominator the same: -16 + 5 = -11. So, our answer in its simplest form is -11/40.