Exercise 29 Page 34

Adding a negative number is the same as subtracting its positive counterpart. Let's use this to simplify the expression. 7/9+(-5/12) ⇔ 7/9-5/12When subtracting fractions they must have the same denominator. Since 9* 4=36 and 12* 3=36, we can create the same denominator by multiplying the numerator and denominator in the first fraction by 4 and by multiplying the numerator and denominator in the second fraction by 3. 7* 4/9* 4-5* 3/12* 3 ⇔ 28/36-15/36 Let's perform the subtraction.

28/36-15/36

SubFrac

Subtract fractions

28-15/36

SubTerm

Subtract term

13/36

Since 13 is a prime number, we know that the fraction cannot be reduced any further. The sum is 1336.