MATHEMATICS 8

UNIT 4

SUBTRACTING FRACTIONS
MULTIPLYING FRACTIONS
DIVIDING FRACTIONS
FRACTIONS AND DECIMALS
ORDER OF OPERATIONS
SUBTRACTING FRACTIONS
When the denominators of the
_ fractions are the same, simply
= subtract one numerator from the
other and place your answer over
the original denominator.

When the denominators are not the

_ same, you will have to find a common
denominator before you can begin
= subtraction.

To find a common denominator for these two fractions,

you need to find the lowest common multiple for 5 and 3
The lowest common multiple of 5 and 3 is
15
Look at the relationship between the
original denominators of the fractions
_ and the new common denominator.
= What number would you have to
multiply the old denominator by to get
the new one?

Whatever that number is, multiply the

old numerator by it as well and place
_ your answer over the new common
= denominator. Do this for both fractions.

Subtract the second numerator from the

first and put your answer over the new
denominator.
 Multiply the two Numerators

X =

Multiply the two Denominators

MULTIPLYING FRACTIONS
The Simplest of the Operations
 DIVIDING FRACTIONS

DIVIDED BY =

This is easier than it seems. You simply change the

second fraction to its reciprocal, change the
operation sign to multiplication, then follow the rules
for multiplying fractions.
 Reciprocal
A reciprocal of a fraction is obtained by flipping the
original fraction over so that the original numerator
becomes the new denominator and the original
denominator becomes the new numerator

Each of these fractions is

the reciprocal of the other
 INVERT AND MULTIPLY

DIVIDED BY =
RECIPROCAL
BECOMES

X =
CHANGE OPERATION SIGN TO
MULTIPLICATION
 LOWEST TERMS
Sometimes fractions can be broken down into equivalent
fractions with the smallest possible numerators and
denominators. This is called reducing to lowest terms.

To reduce a fraction to lowest terms, you must find

the greatest common factor for both the numerator
and denominator. You then divide both the top and
bottom by the greatest common factor.

The greatest common factor for 6 and 8 is

Divide both top and bottom
by 2. Its the largest
6 divided by 2 = 3 Lowest Terms
number that will divide 8 divided by 2 = 4
evenly into 6 and 8
FRACTIONS TO DECIMALS
As indicated before, the line dividing
the numerator and the denominator is
a division line. This fraction can be
read “5 divided by 8”

Tenths
Hundredths
Thousandths
 Mixed Numbers to Decimals
Two and five sixths

5 Keep the whole number and do the division for the

fraction. Place the decimal point between the whole
6 number and the decimal you get after doing the division.

5 divided by 6 = 0.83333

Decimal Point. This seperates

the whole number from the fractional
number.
 Another Way...
5 Turn the mixed number into an
6 improper fraction.

5 17 Then divide the top number

6
= 6 by the bottom number.

17 divided by 6 = 2.8333
 ORDER OF OPERATIONS
BEDMAS APPLIES TO FRACTIONS TOO!

P Brackets
P Exponents
P Division In the order of appearance
P Multiplication from left to right

P Addition
In the order of appearance
P Subtraction from left to right