Question 635429: simplify 3/8 - 1/2 + 5/6
Answer by ptaylor(2198)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! 3/8-1/2+5/6
First, we need to find the Least Common Multiple (LCM) of the three denominators (8, 2, 6). The LCM is the smallest number that is a multiple of each denominator. There are several ways to find the LCM. I will just list some of the multiples of each denominator and see what we have:
8=8, 16, 24, 32, 40----
2=2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 , 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24-----
6=6, 12, 18, 24,----
Sooo, by inspection, we see that 24 is the LCM
3/8=9/24
1/2=12/24
5/6=20/24
Now we have
9/24-12/24+20/24 Now we can add these fractions and find out how many 24th's the we have:
29/24-12/24=17/24-----------------answer
Hope this helps---ptaylor
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