How to subtract fractions with different denominators and same numerator?

This is a very common question that students often stumble on when solving a fraction problem. If you have two fractions with different denominators but the same numerator, you can subtract them as long as their denominators share a common factor. To do so, multiply the denominators of both fractions by the same common denominator and add the results.

How to subtract fractions with the same

To subtract two fractions with the same denominator, find the common denominator for both fractions and subtract the equivalent values for each fraction. For example, if you have two fractions with the same denominator of 20, each fraction has a numerator equal to five. Because both have the same denominator, you can divide each fraction by 20 to find the equivalent values of 1/20. Now you can subtract the two values. In this case, 1/20 – 1/20 equals 0.

How to subtract fractions with unequal denominators?

If you are solving multi-step subtraction problems and you are given two fractions with different denominators, you can subtract them by first multiplying the smaller fraction by the reciprocal of the denominator of the larger fraction. To do this, you need to know the reciprocal of any fraction without a calculator. You can look it up online or use your calculator’s fraction division function. If you use your calculator, make sure to press “C” for fraction division.

How to subtract fractions with the same denominator and different numerators?

This is the most basic form of fraction subtraction when you are given two fractions with different denominators, but the same numerator. The fraction with the lower denominator will be represented by the fraction with the smaller numerator (the one with the smaller whole number), and the fraction with the higher denominator will be represented by the fraction with the larger numerator (the one with the larger whole number). Look at the example below:

How to subtract fractions with unequal denominators and equal numerators?

If you have unequal fraction denominators, you can use the division method to solve the problem. To subtract two different fraction denominators, simply divide the smaller denominator by the larger denominator. This will show you the fraction you need to subtract. For example, to subtract from you can divide by so that the resulting fraction equals To solve for you need to subtract so that the numerator of the resulting fraction equals For example,