1) x/8 + 9/-8
2) x/2 - 1/-2
I know these are probably really easy, but for some reason they are stumping me. So I know that to find the LCD for these I can multiply any one of the expressions by -1. Now, does it matter which one? If it does matter, there's my problem. I thought it didn't matter and so with #1 I figured out: x/8 + 9/-8 = x/8 + -1(-9/8) = here's where I have trouble. Does it become x(-9)/8 or just -9x/8? With #2, I have about the same trouble, just some difference about the signs. x/2 - 1/-2 = x/2 - -1(-1/2) = x-1/2. Now does the minus sign between the two expressions in #2 change the answer from x-1/2 to x+1/2?
To clarify: x/8 stands for x divided by 8. I didn't care to put up all the BBCode, sorry! I'll have to learn it all sometime.
Thanks so much. I really appreciate whoever can help me.
2) x/2 - 1/-2
I know these are probably really easy, but for some reason they are stumping me. So I know that to find the LCD for these I can multiply any one of the expressions by -1. Now, does it matter which one? If it does matter, there's my problem. I thought it didn't matter and so with #1 I figured out: x/8 + 9/-8 = x/8 + -1(-9/8) = here's where I have trouble. Does it become x(-9)/8 or just -9x/8? With #2, I have about the same trouble, just some difference about the signs. x/2 - 1/-2 = x/2 - -1(-1/2) = x-1/2. Now does the minus sign between the two expressions in #2 change the answer from x-1/2 to x+1/2?
To clarify: x/8 stands for x divided by 8. I didn't care to put up all the BBCode, sorry! I'll have to learn it all sometime.
Thanks so much. I really appreciate whoever can help me.