Please help i'll mark big brain

Compare the subtraction problems 6/8 - 5/8 = 1/8 and 6/9 - 7/9 = 1/9 why is the answer to the first problem positive and the answer to the second problem negative

Solve this system of equations. 12x − 18y = 27 4x − 6y = 10

17. a researcher measures three variables, x, y, and z for each individual in a sample of n = 20. the pearson correlations for this sample are rxy = 0.6, rxz = 0.4, and ryz = 0.7. a. find the partial correlation between x and y, holding z constant. b. find the partial correlation between x and z, holding y constant. (hint: simply switch the labels for the variables y and z to correspond with the labels in the equation.) gravetter, frederick j. statistics for the behavioral sciences (p. 526). cengage learning. kindle edition.