SOLUTION: What is greater -1/5 or -3/7

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Question 1154117: What is greater -1/5 or -3/7
Found 3 solutions by MathLover1, josmiceli, ikleyn:
Answer by MathLover1(20850) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

to see what is greater -1%2F5 or -3%2F7, first make denominators equal
To make the denominators the same we can:
Multiply top and bottom of each fraction by the denominator of the other.
-%281%2A7%29%2F%287%2A5%29=-7%2F35
-%283%2A5%29%2F%287%2A5%29=-15%2F35
=>-7%2F35 is greater than -15%2F35 because -7 is closer to zero than -15
=> so, your answer is: -1%2F5+%3E+-3%2F7

Answer by josmiceli(19441) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
+-1%2F5+=+%287%2F7%29%2A%28-1%2F5%29+
+-1%2F5+=+-7%2F35+
and
+-3%2F7+=+%285%2F5%29%2A%28-3%2F7%29+
+-3%2F7+=+-15%2F35+
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-1/5 is more positive than -3/7

Answer by ikleyn(52866) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.

In order to compare two given fractions, write them with the common denominator.


Then throw the common denominator away and compare the numerators only.