Subtract   5 2/3
              -  2     
                 3 2/3      There is no fraction in the fractions column to subtract from the
                               2/3 so just bring down the 2/3 and subtract the 2 from the 5.

Subtract   6 4/5
              -  2 3/5
                 4 1/5   When you are subtracting fractions with the same denominators
                             just subtract the numerators and bring down the common
                            denominator. Next subtract the whole numbers and you have
                            finished the problem.

Now lets try subtracting numbers that have different denominators.
 Subtract  5 2/3
               - 4 1/2   First find a common denominator,  6, 12, 18 are common
                            denominators of 2 and 3 with 6 being the least common
                            denominator (LCD)  So lets use 6. Lets deal with the fractions
                            before tackling the whole numbers.

               5 2/3  =    /6  =   (divide 6 by 3 and then x by 2)  =     4/6
             - 4 1/2  =    /6  =   (divide 6 by 2 and then x by 1)  = -  3/6

               5 4/6   (bring over the whole numbers)
            -  4 3/6

 Now subtract the numerators and the whole numbers.

              5 4/6
            - 4 3/6
              1 1/6   Study this example and try it on a piece of paper without
                        looking at the monitor. Then check your work. Then try
                        the following example.

  Subtract   7 5/6
                -  3 1/4    answer
 
 

Borrowing when Subtracting.   490
                                                  -  53    To do this problem you need to
                                                   437     borrow from the 9 in order to subtract
                                                              the 3. So your answer is 437.
There is a similar challenge when working with fractions. When the numerator
of the top fraction is smaller than the numerator of the bottom fraction.

Subtract    8  1/3                                   =     8 2/6
                - 4  1/2 (first find the LCD)  =   - 4 3/6  Notice the bottom numerator is
                                                                        larger than the top numerator
                                                                        and hence to subtract we must borrow
                                                                        from the whole number 8.
Study the following problem.

   8 2/6  = 7 + 1 + 2/6  =  7 + 6/6 + 2/6  =  7  8/6  What are we doing? We start with the
 - 4 3/6  =                                                 - 4 3/6   number 8 2/6 and borrowed 1 from 8.
                                                                   2 5/6   So now the number is 7 + 1 + 2/6.

Next we want to add the 1 to 2/6. Therefore we change 1 to 6/6.
Next we add 6/6 + 2/6 =  8/6  Bring over the 7 so we have  7 8/6
                                                                                               - 4 3/6
                                                                                                 3 5/6

Study the above example and then try to do it on a piece of paper without
looking at the monitor. After you finish compare your work with what is
on the monitor. 

Try this example on a piece of paper and then check the answer.
                       Subtract  4 1/5
                                     - 1 1/2    answer
 
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