How do I simplify this

Question

17 1/3 + ( -50 1/3) - 5 1/2

Answer 1

Mixed numbers are pain. They cannot be directly manipulated with any ease, so convert them to fractions first:

17 1/3 + ( -50 1/3) - 5 1/2
= 52/3 + (-151/3) - 5 1/2
= -99/3 - 5 1/2
= -33 - 5 1/2
= -33 - 5 1/2
= -38 1/2

If we had not had an integer quotient (99/3) we'd have had to combine the fractions with a common denominator of 6...

Answer 2

Thank you steve