Solve Fraction Subtraction: 3/4 minus 5/12 Step-by-Step

Question

Solve the following exercise:

34512=? \frac{3}{4}-\frac{5}{12}=\text{?}

Video Solution

Solution Steps

00:00 Solve
00:03 Multiply by 3 to find the common denominator
00:06 Make sure to multiply both numerator and denominator
00:15 Calculate the multiplications
00:20 Subtract with the common denominator
00:27 Calculate the numerator
00:31 Reduce the fraction as much as possible
00:34 Make sure to divide both numerator and denominator
00:40 And this is the solution to the question

Step-by-Step Solution

To solve the problem 34512 \frac{3}{4} - \frac{5}{12} , we need to subtract two fractions with different denominators. Let's follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Identify the least common denominator (LCD) of the two fractions. Here, the denominators are 4 and 12. The least common multiple of 4 and 12 is 12.
  • Step 2: Convert 34 \frac{3}{4} to an equivalent fraction with a denominator of 12. To do this, we multiply both the numerator and the denominator by 3:
    34=3×34×3=912 \frac{3}{4} = \frac{3 \times 3}{4 \times 3} = \frac{9}{12}
  • Step 3: Now that both fractions have the same denominator, we can subtract the numerators:
    912512=9512=412 \frac{9}{12} - \frac{5}{12} = \frac{9 - 5}{12} = \frac{4}{12}
  • Step 4: Simplify the fraction 412 \frac{4}{12} by dividing both the numerator and the denominator by their greatest common divisor, which is 4:
    412=4÷412÷4=13 \frac{4}{12} = \frac{4 \div 4}{12 \div 4} = \frac{1}{3}

Therefore, the solution to the problem is 13 \frac{1}{3} .

Answer

13 \frac{1}{3}