What is -4 5/1 - 2 4/11? Express your answer as a fraction in simplified form.

1 answer

To solve \(-4 \frac{5}{1} - 2 \frac{4}{11}\), we first convert these mixed numbers to improper fractions.

  1. Convert \(-4 \frac{5}{1}\) to an improper fraction:

    \[ -4 \frac{5}{1} = -\left(4 \cdot 1 + 5\right) = -\left(4 + 5\right) = -9 \quad \text{(since \(5/1 = 5\))} \]

    Therefore, \(-4 \frac{5}{1} = -9\).

  2. Convert \(2 \frac{4}{11}\) to an improper fraction:

    \[ 2 \frac{4}{11} = 2 \cdot 11 + 4 = 22 + 4 = 26 \quad \text{(so it becomes \(\frac{26}{11}\))} \]

    Therefore, \(2 \frac{4}{11} = \frac{26}{11}\).

  3. Now perform the subtraction:

    We want to calculate:

    \[ -9 - \frac{26}{11} \]

    To subtract these two values, we write \(-9\) as a fraction:

    \[ -9 = -\frac{9 \cdot 11}{11} = -\frac{99}{11} \]

    Now we can combine the two fractions:

    \[ -\frac{99}{11} - \frac{26}{11} = -\frac{99 + 26}{11} = -\frac{125}{11} \]

  4. Final answer:

    The result is:

    \[ -\frac{125}{11} \]

Thus, the final answer is \(\boxed{-\frac{125}{11}}\).