Question

How do you simplify `(-5/x)-3/4`?

Answer 1

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

To add/subtract these fractions they must be over a common denominator, in this case `4x`. First, we need to multiply each fraction by the appropriate form of `1` (which doesn't change the value of the fraction) to get each fraction over this common denominator.

`(4/4 xx -5/x) - (x/x xx 3/4) =>`

`(4 xx -5)/(4 xx x) - (x xx 3)/(x xx 4) =>`

`-20/(4x) - (3x)/(4x)`

Now, we can add the numerators over the common denominator:

`(-20 - 3x)/(4x)`