5/9 minus what equals 9/8?

Here we will show you how to calculate "what" in this sentence: "5/9 minus what equals 9/8?" We start by making this word problem into an algebraic equation where "what" is the variable "x".

5/9 - x = 9/8

To solve this equation, we want x alone on the left side of the equation so we start by subtracting 5/9 on both sides like this:

5/9 - 5/9 - x = 9/8 - 5/9

5/9 - 5/9 - x leaves -x and 9/8 - 5/9 is 41/72 which means we end up with -x = 41/72. Then, you multiply each side by -1 to get x = -41/72. Therefore, the answer to "5/9 minus what equals 9/8?" is as follows:

-41/72

It is always good to double-check your math to make sure you did it right. When we entered -41/72 for x in this equation 5/9 - x = 9/8, we get the following true equation which means our math is correct.

5/9 - -41/72 = 9/8

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