How do you simplify #\frac{15}{2}-45#?

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Answer 1 · 2017-06-14T04:14:15

The solution is #-75/2# .

To subtract numbers involving fractions, both have to have the same DENOMINATOR.

#15/2# has the denominator 2.
#-45# has the denominator 1.

Since 2 and 1 are not the same, change #-45# to have a denominator of 2 to make both fractions have the same denominator.

To give #-45# a denominator of 2, multiply #-45# by #2/2#.

[We can multiply by #2/2# because #2/2 = 1#, which means we didn't change the original problem! ]

You should end up with #15/2 - 90/2# .
[The 90 came from #-45 * 2 = -90#]

Now that they have the same denominator, subtract 90 from 15 to get your new numerator, #-75#!
#15-90=-75#

Keep the DENOMINATOR as #2# because when subtracting fractions, the denominator DOES NOT CHANGE.

#-75/2# cannot be simplified, so your final answer should be #-75/2# .