How do you simplify #15 / 13 + -11.75 /13#?

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Answer 1 · 2017-07-07T12:00:51

See a solution process below:

First, rewrite the expression. The rule is: minus (-) a plus (+) is a minus (-):

#15/13 + - 11.75/13 => 15/13 - 11.75/13#

Because both fractions have common denominators we can subtract the numerators over the common denominators:

#(15 - 11.75)/13 => 3.25/13#

If necessary we can multiply by the appropriate form of #1# to eliminate the decimal in the numerator:

#4/4 xx 3.25/13 = > (4 xx 3.25)/(4 xx 13) = 13/52#

We can now reduce the fraction as:

#13/52 = (13 xx 1)/(13 xx 4) = (color(red)(cancel(color(black)(13))) xx 1)/(color(red)(cancel(color(black)(13))) xx 4) = 1/4#