Q. Evaluate the expression shown below and write your answer as a fraction in simplest form.127−71Answer:
Find Common Denominator: To subtract the two fractions, we need to find a common denominator. The denominators are 12 and 7, which are both prime to each other, so the common denominator will be their product, 12×7=84.
Convert to Equivalent Fractions: Now we convert each fraction to an equivalent fraction with the common denominator of 84. For the first fraction, 127, we multiply both the numerator and the denominator by 7 to get (12×77×7)=8449. For the second fraction, 71, we multiply both the numerator and the denominator by 12 to get (7×121×12)=8412.
Subtract Fractions: With both fractions having the common denominator of 84, we can now subtract them: (8449)−(8412).
Perform Numerical Subtraction: Subtracting the numerators while keeping the common denominator gives us (49−12)/84.
Check for Simplification: Performing the subtraction in the numerator gives us 8437.
Check for Simplification: Performing the subtraction in the numerator gives us 8437.We now check if the fraction 8437 can be simplified further. Since 37 is a prime number and does not share any common factors with 84 other than 1, the fraction is already in its simplest form.