What is 3/12 - 2/8?

Here's how to subtract 2/8 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 8, and get 24.

Then we multiply 2 by 12, and get 24.

Next we give both terms new denominators -- 12 × 8 = 96.

So now our fractions look like this:

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can subtract the numerators.

24 − 24 = 0

So the answer is: