Question 135751
How would I solve this Equation the fractions confuse me ? : 

1){{{x/3 - 7/8 = (2/5)(x + 15/4)}}}

First lets get rid of the parens:

{{{x/3 - 7/8=2x/5 + 3/2}}} (note:  {{{(2/5)(15/4)=(30/20)=3/2}}})
Now our next drill is to find the smallest number that each denominator (3, 8, 5, 2) will divide equally into (LCM) and then we multiply each term by this number.  There's several ways to do this but one approach that I like is to take the largest of the denominators and start multiplying it by (1,2,3----etc) 'till we arrive at a number that all denominators divide equally into.  In this case the LCM is 120

{{{120(x/3)-120(7/8)=120(2x/5)+120(3/2)}}} and this equals:

{{{40x-105=48x+180}}} subtract 48x from and add 105 to both sides

{{{40x-48x-105+105=48x-48x+180+105}}} collect like terms

{{{-8x=285}}}  divide both sides by -8

{{{x=-35.625}}}

CK
{{{-35.625/3-0.875=0.4(-35.625+3.75)}}}
{{{-11.875-0.875=-12.75}}}
{{{-12.75=-12.75}}}



Hope this helps---ptaylor