history

Did you know that fractions as we use them today didn't exist in Europe until the 17th
century? In fact, at first, fractions weren't even thought of as numbers in their own right
at all, just a way of comparing whole numbers with each other. Who first used fractions?
Were they always written in the same way? How did fractions reach us here? These are
the sorts of questions which we are going to answer for you. Read on ...

The word fraction actually comes from the Latin "fractio" which means to break. To
understand how fractions have developed into the form we recognise, we'll have to step
back even further in time to discover what the first number systems were like.

From as early as 1800 BC, the Egyptians were writing fractions. Their number system
was a base10 idea (a little bit like ours now) so they had separate symbols
for 1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000,100000 and 1000000. The ancient Egyptian writing
system was all in pictures which were called hieroglyphs and in the same way, they had
pictures for the numbers:

Here is an example of how the numbers were made up:

Could you write down 3581 in hieroglyphics?

Numerator / Denominator

We call the top number the Numerator, it is the number of parts you have.
We call the bottom number the Denominator, it is the number of parts the whole
is divided into.
 Numerator

Denominator

You just have to remember those names! (If you forget just think "Down"-
ominator)

Equivalent Fractions

Some fractions may look different, but are really the same, for example:

4 2 1
/8 = /4 = /2
(Four-Eighths) Two-Quarters) (One-Half)

= =

1
It is usually best to show an answer using the simplest fraction ( /2 in this case ).
That is called Simplifying, or Reducing the Fraction

Adding Fractions

You can add fractions easily if the bottom number (the denominator) is the same:

`
1 1 2 1
/4 + /4 = /4 = /2
(One-Quarter) (One-Quarter) (Two-Quarters) (One-Half)

+ = =

Another example:
 5 1 6 3
/8 + /8 = /8 = /4

+ = =

Adding Fractions with Different Denominators

But what if the denominators (the bottom numbers) are not the same? As in this
example:

3 1
/8 + /4 = ?

+ =

You must somehow make the denominators the same.

1 2
In this case it is easy, because we know that /4 is the same as /8 :

3 2 5
/8 + /8 = /8

In that example it was

easy to make the
denominators the same,
+ = but it can be harder .
There are 3 simple steps to multiply fractions

1. Multiply the top numbers (the numerators).

2. Multiply the bottom numbers (the denominators).

3. Simplify the fraction if needed.

Example 1
1 2

2 5

Step 1. Multiply the top numbers:

1×
1 2 2
2
× = =

2 5

Step 2. Multiply the bottom numbers:

1×
1 2 2
2

× = =

2× 1
2 5
5 0

Step 3. Simplify the fraction:

2 = 1
 1
5
0

Unlike fractions are fractions having unlike denominators, e.g., 1/4 and 1/6.

Definition of Like Fractions

• The different fractions with the same denominator are Like Fractions.
More about Like Fractions

• Fractions, whose denominators are not the same, are called unlike fractions.
• To add and subtract like fractions, we simply need to add or subtract the numerators,
then we can write the result over common denominator
Example of Like Fractions

• and are like fractions, as they have the same denominator 7.

• One half..One fourth..One third..what are they? They're fractions!

A fraction describes a part of a whole when the whole is cut into into equal parts!! Fractions
can also be parts of a group. For example, if there is a group of fruit: 3 oranges and 4 apples,
what fraction of the group are apples? Four sevenths. There are seven parts, and four apples.
What is the fraction for the oranges? Three sevenths. They are fractions that are not one
whole, it's just a part of the whole.
•
There is the denominator which is the bottom number which gives the number of parts in
the whole. There is the numerator which is the top number that tells how many parts are
showing.
• Here are some examples:

One fourth of the box is yellow.

Three fourths of the box is blue.
• There are several different types of fractions. Such as, equivalent fractions. They are
fractions that are equal. There's also improper fractions which have a denominator that is
greater than or equal to the numerator. Most of the time, you need to make them a regular
fraction so it's easier to work with. Another type of fraction is a mixed number. A mixed
number is a fraction that that is associated with whole numbers and regular fractions.
• Quiz

• 1. 2/8 + 3/8 =
• 2. 20/53 × 3/10 =
• 3. 2/10 + 5/10 =
• 4. 4/17 + 7/17 =
• 5. 5/11 × 13/20 =
• 6. 6/11 + 8/11 =
• 7. 5/6 + 5/6 =
• 8. 6/15 × 5/9 =
• 9. 8/9 - 2/9 =
• 10. 3/8 - 1/8 =
• 11. 4/9 × 3/16
• 12. 5/9 - 1/3 =
• 13. 5/9 + 2/3 =
• 14. 7/20 × 5/21 =
• 15. 10/12 - 3/6 =
• 16. 3/7 × 14/27
• 17. 1/2 - 4/14 =
• 18. A cup of milk has 11/100 of the daily USDA cholesterol allowance. A serving of
cooked chicken has 19/75 of this allowance. If you ate a serving of cooked chicken
and a glass of milk, what fraction of the USDA cholesterol have you had?
• 19. A recipe for fruit punch calls for 3/8 of a quart of lemon juice, 2/3 of a quart
of orange juice, 1/10 of a quart of cranberry juice, and 3/4 of a cup of water soda.
How large a container is needed for the punch?
• 20. When you are resting, the total fraction of blood that flows to your skeletal
muscles is about 1/6. The fraction of total blood that flows to the skeletal muscles
is 5/7 when you are exercising. What is the difference between the two amounts of
blood?
 Answers

• 1. 5/8
• 2. 6/53
• 3. 7/10
• 4. 11/17
• 5. 13/44
• 6. 14/11 or 1 3/11
• 7. 10/6 or 1 4/10 or 1 2/5
• 8. 2/9
• 9. 6/9
• 10. 2/8
• 11. 4/12
• 12. 2/9
• 13. 11/9
• 14. 1/12
• 15. 4/12 or 1/3
• 16. 2/9
• 17. 3/14
• 18. 109/300
• 19. 227/120 or 1 107/120
• 20. 23/42
•
•