1.Combine: 3/48-12/75+ 4/12 3 12 4 ———— - ———— + ———— 48 75 12 Reduce the fractions first 3/48 will reduce to 1/16, so replace 3/48 by 1/16 1 12 4 ———— - ———— + ———— 16 75 12 12/75 will reduce to 4/25, so replace 12/75 by 4/25 1 4 4 ———— - ———— + ———— 16 25 12 4/12 will reduce to 1/3, so replace 4/12 by 1/3 1 4 1 ———— - ———— + ——— 16 25 3 Now since there are no common factors of 16, 25 and 3 other than 1, we multiply them all together to find the LCD 16×25×3 = 1200 To make the first fraction have denominator 16×25×3 we multiply 1/16 by the fraction (25×3)/(25×3) which equals 1 and multiplying by 1 will not change the value 1/16. 1 25×3 4 1 ———— × ———— - ———— + ——— 16 25×3 25 3 To make the second fraction have denominator 16×25×3 we multiply 4/25 by the fraction (16×3)/(16×3) which equals 1 and multiplying by 1 will not change the value 4/25. 1 25×3 4 16×3 1 ———— × ———— - ———— × ———— + ——— 16 25×3 25 16×3 3 To make the third fraction have denominator 16×25×3 we multiply 1/3 by the fraction (16×25)/(16×25) which equals 1 and multiplying by 1 will not change the value 1/3. 1 25×3 4 16×3 1 16×25 ———— × ———— - ———— × ———— + ——— × ————— 16 25×3 25 16×3 3 16×25 Indicate the multiplications of numerators and denominatore in all three cases: 1×25×3 4×16×3 1×16×25 ——————— - ———————— + ——————— 16×25×3 25×16×3 3×16×25 Now multiply as indicated: 75 192 400 ———— - ———— + ———— 1200 1200 1200 Now combine numerators over the LCD 1200 75 - 192 + 400 —————————————— 1200 Combining the numerator terms: 283 ———— 1200 Edwin AnlytcPhil@aol.com