What is 4/12 - 3/9?

Here's how to subtract 3/9 from 4/12:

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 4 by 9, and get 36.

Then we multiply 3 by 12, and get 36.

Next we give both terms new denominators -- 12 × 9 = 108.

So now our fractions look like this:

Step 2

Since our denominators match, we can subtract the numerators.

36 − 36 = 0

So the answer is: