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Exercises Numbers, fractions and percents

Example 4.61 from Prealgebra, 4.4 Add and Subtract Fractions with Common Denominators

Add and Subtract Fractions with Common Denominators: example 4.61

Find the difference: $- \frac{10}{x} - \frac{4}{x} .$

Work it out on paper first. Then open the solution one step at a time, and stop as soon as you can finish on your own.

Solution
Remember, the fraction $- \frac{10}{x}$ can be written as $\frac{−10}{x} .$

$- \frac{10}{x} - \frac{4}{x}$

Subtract the numerators. $\frac{−10 - 4}{x}$

Simplify. $\frac{−14}{x}$

Rewrite with the negative sign in front of the fraction. $- \frac{14}{x}$

Your turn

The book's Try It right after this example: same idea, new numbers. Only the answer is given.

Find the difference: $- \frac{9}{x} - \frac{7}{x} .$

How did it go?

PreviousAdd and Subtract Fractions with Common Denominators: example 4.60 Next Add and Subtract Fractions with Common Denominators: example 4.62

From Prealgebra (1st edition) by OpenStax (Rice University), section 4.4, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Original at openstax.org. We split the solution into steps; the words, numbers and figures are the book's. OpenStax doesn't endorse this site.