Subtracting Mixed Numbers

Subtracting Mixed Numbers - How it Works - Video

Example 1

Example 1:

In subtracting mixed numbers the key is to make sure denominator for both numbers is the same when subtracting mixed numbers. In this case the the denominators are 5 and 5. So now, we can subtract the whole numbers, 6 - 2 = 4. Next we can subtract the numerators, 3 - 2 = 1. The final result is 4 and 1/5.

Example 2

Example 2:

In subtracting mixed numbers the key is to make sure denominator for both numbers is the same when subtracting mixed numbers. In this case the the denominators are 6 and 6. So now, we can subtract the whole numbers, 8 - 5 = 3. Next we can subtract the numerators, 5 - 1 = 4. Since we have 4/6 for our fraction we have to simplify to 2/3 because we divide the denominator and the numerator by 2. So our answer is 3 and 2/3

Example 3

Example 3:

In subtracting mixed numbers the key is to make sure denominator for both numbers is the same when subtracting mixed numbers. In this case the the denominators are 5 and 5. So now, we can subtract the whole numbers, 5 - 3 = 2. We cannot subtract the fractions yet because we have to borrow for the 2, from 5 - 3 = 2. Now we rewrite 2 as 2 = 1 + 1. Now we use one 1 and convert as 5/5 because the denominator is 5. We do this so that we make the fraction 3/5 greater than 4/5 so we can subtract the two fractions. So 5/5 + 3/5 = 8/5, now we can subtract 8/5 - 4/5 = 4/5. Our final result is 1 and 4/5.

Example 4

Example 4:

In subtracting mixed numbers the key is to make sure denominator for both numbers is the same when subtracting mixed numbers. In this case the the denominators are 3 and 5. We can subtract the whole numbers, 6 - 2 = 4 and put that aside. Now, we cannot subtract the numbers yet because the denominators are different. So we have to convert 1/3 to 5/15 and 3/5 to 9/15 so the denominators are the same. But, we can't do it yet because 5/15 is less than 9/15. So we have to borrow from the 4. We convert it 4 = 3 + 1, and convert that to 15/15 and add it to the 3/15. So we have 15/15 + 5/15 = 20/15. Now we can subtract the two fractions, 20/15 and 9/15 to get 11/15. Our final result is 3 and 11/15.

Live Worksheet

Here is the link if you prefer.