What is 2/3 minus 3/8

7/24

Step 1

We can't subtract two fractions with different denominators. So you need to get a common denominator. To do this, you'll multiply the denominators times each other... but the numerators have to change, too. They get multiplied by the other term's denominator.

So we multiply 2 by 8, and get 16.

Then we multiply 3 by 3, and get 9.

Next we give both terms new denominators -- 3 × 8 = 24.

So now our fractions look like this:

16

24

−

9

24

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can subtract the numerators.

16 − 9 = 7

So the answer is:

7

24