Solution - Reducing fractions to their lowest terms

Step  1  :

            7
 Simplify   —
            2

Equation at the end of step  1  :

        7
  -1 +  —
        2

Step  2  :

Rewriting the whole as an Equivalent Fraction :

 2.1   Adding a fraction to a whole

Rewrite the whole as a fraction using  2  as the denominator :

           -1     -1 • 2
     -1 =  ——  =  ——————
           1        2   

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:

 -1 • 2 + 7     5
 ——————————  =  —
     2          2

Final result :

  5           
  — = 2.50000 
  2