Question

How do you evaluate: `5/3 -: 5/7`?

Answer 1

`7/3`

Explanation:

This expression can be rewritten as:

`(5/3)/(5/7)`

We can then use the rule for dividing fractions:

`(color(red)(a)/color(blue)(b))/(color(purple)(c)/color(orange)(d)) -> (color(red)(a) xx color(orange)(d))/(color(blue)(b) xx color(purple)(c))`

Substituting the values from the rewritten problem gives:

`(color(red)(5)/color(blue)(3))/(color(purple)(5)/color(orange)(7)) -> (color(red)(5) xx color(orange)(7))/(color(blue)(3) xx color(purple)(5)) -> (cancel(color(red)(5)) xx color(orange)(7))/(color(blue)(3) xx cancel(color(purple)(5))) -> 7/3`