Algebra Examples

$- \frac{1}{2} + (- \frac{1}{5})$

Step 1

Remove parentheses.

$- \frac{1}{2} - \frac{1}{5}$

Step 2

To write $- \frac{1}{2}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{5}{5}$ .

$- \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{5}{5} - \frac{1}{5}$

Step 3

To write $- \frac{1}{5}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{2}{2}$ .

$- \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{5}{5} - \frac{1}{5} \cdot \frac{2}{2}$

Step 4

Write each expression with a common denominator of $10$ , by multiplying each by an appropriate factor of $1$ .

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Step 4.1

Multiply $\frac{1}{2}$ by $\frac{5}{5}$ .

$- \frac{5}{2 \cdot 5} - \frac{1}{5} \cdot \frac{2}{2}$

Step 4.2

Multiply $2$ by $5$ .

$- \frac{5}{10} - \frac{1}{5} \cdot \frac{2}{2}$

Step 4.3

Multiply $\frac{1}{5}$ by $\frac{2}{2}$ .

$- \frac{5}{10} - \frac{2}{5 \cdot 2}$

Step 4.4

Multiply $5$ by $2$ .

$- \frac{5}{10} - \frac{2}{10}$

Step 5

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$\frac{- 5 - 2}{10}$

Step 6

Subtract $2$ from $- 5$ .

$\frac{- 7}{10}$

Step 7

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

$- \frac{7}{10}$

Step 8

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$- \frac{7}{10}$

Decimal Form:

$- 0.7$