Daughter is in 5th grade and I have no idea how to solve this math problem!
5 3/4 – 6 3/4
Obv you cannot subtract 5 from 6. You also can’t borrow the 3 from the 5 and make it a new mixed number. What do you borrow from? I’ve googled and seriously cannot figure this out.
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> 5 3/4 – 6 3/4
5.75 – 6.75
> Obv you cannot subtract ~~5~~ [6] from ~~6~~ [5].
Yes you can, the answer is -1.
> You also can’t borrow the 3 from the 5 and make it a new mixed number.
Mixed numbers only belong in cooking & construction. Convert to an improper fraction:
5 3/4 = 23/4
6 3/4 = 27/4
(23-27)/4 = -4/4 = -1
If the bottoms weren’t both a 4, you’d have to convert to get the same bottom, or to a decimal.
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Example:
4 2/3 – 7 3/4
4 2/3 = 14/3
7 3/4 = 31/4
Bottoms aren’t the same, so find a multiple of 3 that is also a multiple of 4, which would 12.
14/3 = 56/12
31/4 = 93/12
(56-93)/12 = -37/12 ≈ -3.10
Do double check in approximate decimal form:
4 2/3 ≈ 4.67
7 3/4 = 7.75
4.67 – 7.75 ≈ -3.10
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