What is 3/12 - 1/4?

Here's how to subtract 1/4 from 3/12:

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 3 by 4, and get 12.

Then we multiply 1 by 12, and get 12.

Next we give both terms new denominators -- 12 × 4 = 48.

So now our fractions look like this:

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can subtract the numerators.

12 − 12 = 0

So the answer is: