Question

How do you solve `m + 7/12 = -5/18`?

Answer 1

Set the denominators for all terms to be equal and rearrange to find that `m=-31/36`

Explanation:

The first step is to isolate `m`. We will do this by subtracting `7/12` from both sides of the equation:

`m cancel(+7/12-7/12)=-5/18-7/12`

Next, we figure out what the difference is on the Right-Hand Side (RHS). The way to do this is to raise both fractions to their lowest common denominator. This is equivalent to finding the smallest common multiple between both denominators.

The lowest common multiple of 12 and 18 is 36, so we'll raise both fractions such that the denominators are multiplied to 36.

`m= -5/18*2/2-7/12*3/3 = -10/36-21/36`

`m= (-10-21)/36`

`color(red)(m=-31/36)`