Question

Subtract. Write the difference in the lowest terms.

$$\begin{gathered} \frac{5}{9} \\ -\frac{2}{9} \\ \_\_\_\_\_ \end{gathered}$$

Answer 1

When subtracting two like fractions, subtract the numerators to get the numerator of the difference and use the same denominator for the denominator of the difference.

Given : $\frac{5}{9}-\frac{2}{9}$

$$\begin{gathered} \frac{5}{9}-\frac{2}{9}=\frac{5-2}{9} \\ =\frac{3}{9}(dividingnumeratoranddenominatorbycommonfactor3) \\ =\frac{1}{3} \end{gathered}$$

Therefore the required difference in the lowest term is $\frac{1}{3}$