Solution - Adding, subtracting and finding the least common multiple

Reformatting the input :

Changes made to your input should not affect the solution:

(1): "^-3" was replaced by "^(-3)".

Step  1  :

Equation at the end of step  1  :

  4 -  (2)(-3)

Step  2  :

Rewriting the whole as an Equivalent Fraction :

 2.1   Subtracting a fraction from a whole

Rewrite the whole as a fraction using  2³  as the denominator :

         4     4 • 23
    4 =  —  =  ——————
         1       23  

Equivalent fraction : The fraction thus generated looks different but has the same value as the whole

Common denominator : The equivalent fraction and the other fraction involved in the calculation share the same denominator

Adding fractions that have a common denominator :

 2.2       Adding up the two equivalent fractions
Add the two equivalent fractions which now have a common denominator

Combine the numerators together, put the sum or difference over the common denominator then reduce to lowest terms if possible:

 4 • 8 - (1)     31
 ———————————  =  ——
      8          8 

Final result :

  31           
  —— = 3.87500 
  8