Question

How do you combine like terms in `-\frac { 4} { y } + ( - \frac { 7} { 8y } )`?

Answer 1

See the entire solution process below:

Explanation:

To add fractions the fractions must be over common denominators. For this problem a common denominator is `8y`. Therefore we need to multiply the fraction on the left by the appropriate form of `1` or `8/8`:

`(8/8 xx -4/y) + (-7/(8y)) ->`

`-32/(8y) + (-7/(8y))`

We can now add the numerators:

`(-32 + (-7))/(8y) -> (-32 - 7)/(8y) -> -39/(8y)`