y + 1/3 = -5/6
Isolate y by adding -1/3 to both sides:
(y + 1/3) + (-1/3) = -5/6 + (-1/3)
Addition is associative, meaning we can regroup the sums on the left side:
y + (1/3 + (-1/3)) = -5/6 + (-1/3)
1/3 and -1/3 cancel, so we're left with
y = -5/6 + (-1/3)
Adding a negative number is the same as subtracting:
y = -5/6 - 1/3
To combine the fractions and simplify the right side, you first have to find a common denominator. 6 is a multiple of 3, since 6 = 2•3. So multiply the numerator and denominator of 1/3 by 2:
1/3 • 2/2 = 2/6
So we get
y = -5/6 - 2/6
and because the denominators are identical, we can combine the fractions to get
y = (-5 - 2)/6
Simplify the numerator to get y :
y = -7/6