1/2 minus what equals 5/3?

Here we will show you how to calculate "what" in this sentence: "1/2 minus what equals 5/3?" We start by making this word problem into an algebraic equation where "what" is the variable "x".

1/2 - x = 5/3

To solve this equation, we want x alone on the left side of the equation so we start by subtracting 1/2 on both sides like this:

1/2 - 1/2 - x = 5/3 - 1/2

1/2 - 1/2 - x leaves -x and 5/3 - 1/2 is 1 1/6 which means we end up with -x = 1 1/6. Then, you multiply each side by -1 to get x = -1 1/6. Therefore, the answer to "1/2 minus what equals 5/3?" is as follows:

-1 1/6

It is always good to double-check your math to make sure you did it right. When we entered -1 1/6 for x in this equation 1/2 - x = 5/3, we get the following true equation which means our math is correct.

1/2 - -1 1/6 = 5/3

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