What is 1/4 - 1/2?

Here's how to subtract 1/2 from 1/4:

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 1 by 2, and get 2.

Then we multiply 1 by 4, and get 4.

Next we give both terms new denominators -- 4 × 2 = 8.

So now our fractions look like this:

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can subtract the numerators.

2 − 4 = -2

So the answer is:

Step 3

Last of all, we need to simplify the fraction, if possible. Can it be reduced to a simpler fraction?

To find out, we try dividing it by 2...

Are both the numerator and the denominator evenly divisible by 2? Yes! So we reduce it:

Let's try dividing by 2 again...

No good. 2 is larger than -1. So we're done reducing.