Question

What is 1/2 - 1/5.? Use fraction strips to find the difference. Write your answer is simplest form.

Answer 1

Answer:

$\frac{3}{10}$

Step-by-step explanation:

Alright, I don't want to write out the entire fraction strips, but here is the concept:

On the strips, the 1/10 block fits both 1/2 and 1/5 blocks (10 is the LCF between 2 and 5). We see that 1/2 contains five 1/10 blocks, and 1/5 contains two 1/10 blocks.

We want to find the difference between them, so all we need to do is to subtract the two 1/10 blocks (2/10) from the five 1/10 blocks (5/10).

$\frac{5}{10} - \frac{2}{10} = \frac{3}{10}$

This answer cannot be simplified any further.