Fractions

Fractions

Basic GCSE(F)

A fraction divides an item into smaller, equal, parts.  Divide a circle into three equal parts: all three slices together will make a whole circle, but the circle itself has been divided by 3.

As a fraction, this is written as frac(1)(3), which is another way of writing 1 ÷ 3.  The top number is the numerator, and the bottom number is the denominator.

Two slices of the circle will be 2 x frac(1)(3), and is written as frac(2)(3) (two lots of frac(1)(3)).

If each slice is divided in two, there will be six slices: each slice will be frac(1)(6) of the circle.

Two of the divided slices will be the same size as one of the original slices: frac(2)(6) = frac(1)(3). This is an equivalent fraction: two fractions are equivalent if they have the same value, even if they are composed of different numbers.

Equivalent fractions can be obtained by multiplying or dividing the numerator and denominator by the same number:

frac(1^(times2))(4_(times2)) = frac(2^(times2))(8_(times2)) = frac(4)(16)

Making the numerators and denominators smaller in this way is called simplifying: when the fraction cannot be simplified any more, it is in its simplest form.

frac(6^(÷3))(12_(÷3)) = frac(2^(÷2))(4_(÷2)) = frac(1)(2)

Examples

1. Put frac(9)(72) into its simplest form.

Answer: frac(1)(3)

Divide both the numerator and denominator by 9.

frac(9)(27) = frac(9^(÷9))(27_(÷9)) = frac(1)(3)

2. Which of the following fractions are equivalent to frac(3)(8)? frac(1)(4) , frac(6)(16) , frac(8)(3) , frac(12)(32) , frac(3)(4)

Answer: frac(6)(16) and frac(12)(32)

frac(6)(16) is frac(3^(xx2))(8_(xx2)) and frac(12)(32) = frac(3^(xx4))(8_(xx4))