Which fraction is greater than - 5/12 ?

Question

Which fraction is greater than - 5/12  ?

anonymous · Answer

A. -5/11
B .-4/9
C. -3/8
D. -1/2

theprofessor35 · Answer

Greater, here, would mean that it's closer to the zero.

theprofessor35 · Answer

Which one looks closer to zero?

anonymous · Answer

-1/2?

anonymous · Answer

???

theprofessor35 · Answer

No, -1/2 is farther away from 0

Lets make a visual image to demonstrate|dw:1458783319411:dw|.

theprofessor35 · Answer

I'll let @mathmale  to explain the rest, since he's an expert :)

mathmale · Answer

There are only four answer choices here, plus that -5/12.
Why not convert all five numbers to decimal format?  
Then it'd be easy for you to answer this question.

To get you started:  -4/9 = -0.444

mathmale · Answer

...and -1/2 is -0.500, which is actually smaller than -0.444.

theprofessor35 · Answer

Oops, sorry about that :(

anonymous · Answer

so is -1/2

jim_thompson5910 · Answer

I agree with @mathmale convert each fraction to decimal form so you can compare the numbers ------------------------ another way to compare fractions is to use cross multiplication http://www.sat-strategies.com/how-do-you-compare-fractions-with-different-denominators-different-numerators-easily/

mathmale · Answer

You have 5 numbers to work with, and I have already shown you how to convert 2 of them to decimal format.  Please convert the other three to that format.