Basic Math Examples

$(\frac{1}{4}) \cdot 2 - \frac{1}{2} \cdot 4$

Step 1

Simplify each term.

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Step 1.1

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

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Step 1.1.1

Factor $2$ out of $4$ .

$\frac{1}{2 (2)} \cdot 2 - \frac{1}{2} \cdot 4$

Step 1.1.2

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{1}{2 \cdot 2} \cdot 2 - \frac{1}{2} \cdot 4$

Step 1.1.3

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{1}{2} - \frac{1}{2} \cdot 4$

Step 1.2

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

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Step 1.2.1

Move the leading negative in $- \frac{1}{2}$ into the numerator.

$\frac{1}{2} + \frac{- 1}{2} \cdot 4$

Step 1.2.2

Factor $2$ out of $4$ .

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

Step 1.2.3

Cancel the common factor.

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

Step 1.2.4

Rewrite the expression.

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

Step 1.3

Multiply $- 1$ by $2$ .

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

Step 2

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

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

Step 3

Combine $- 2$ and $\frac{2}{2}$ .

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

Step 4

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

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

Step 5

Simplify the numerator.

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Step 5.1

Multiply $- 2$ by $2$ .

$\frac{1 - 4}{2}$

Step 5.2

Subtract $4$ from $1$ .

$\frac{- 3}{2}$

Step 6

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

$- \frac{3}{2}$

Step 7

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$- \frac{3}{2}$

Decimal Form:

$- 1.5$

Mixed Number Form:

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