Mixed & Improper Fractions

Mixed and Improper Fractions

For mixed and improper fractions, let's start with knowing what a fraction is. A fraction is showing a division from part and whole. It shows how much the whole is divided up to in equal parts.

Numerator: In ½ , the 1 is represented as the part of the whole, meaning it's the numerator.

The numerator shows the equal parts in the fraction. 1/2 also means half because 1 is half of 2.

Denominator: In the fraction ¾, the 4 is represented as the denominator. The denominator shows how much the whole is, or the total. 

Divide: In fractions, there is the numerator ( In simplest terms, the number at the top ), and the denominator ( The number at the bottom ), but what does the line represent? The line in fractions represents divide. When you divide the numerator to the denominator, you'll turn the fraction into a decimal. If you turn a 

fraction like ¾ into a decimal, divide 3 to 4 to equal 0.75.

 Mixed Fractions:

Mixed Fractions is when there is a whole number mixed with a proper fraction. This happens when there is an improper fraction, but showed in a different way.

2¾ In this fraction, the 2 is the whole number. The 3 is the parts in the whole. The 4 is how much parts the whole is divided up to, or the total.

Improper Fractions: 

Improper Fractions is when the numerator is greater than the denominator, making it improper. You could easily convert improper fractions into mixed fractions, and vice versa.

11/4 In this fraction, you could tell it's improper by seeing that the numerator is greater than the denominator. 11 is greater than 4 so you can also tell that it's more than a whole. 4/4 is a whole, and 11/4 is greater.

Converting Mixed to Improper and Improper to Mixed:

2¾ For mixed to improper, you can take the whole number (2) and then multiply that by the denominator (4), then adding the numerator (3). Equation: 2x4+3 = 11. Once you have the answer, just simply input the denominator. Remember, the denominator never changes. Your answer should be the numerator. This equals up to 11/4.

11/4 For improper to mixed, you'll have to use your division facts. Find out how much the denominator (4) could fit into the numerator (11). So how I thought of it is 4x3 equals 12 but 12 is greater than 11, so then 2x4. 2x4 = 8. After that, figure how much you need to get to the previous numerator, so 8 to 11, you add 3. 3 is the leftover number. The leftover number will be the numerator on the new mixed number and the denominator will stay the same. The whole will be the number you multiplied by the denominator, in this case, the 2, equaling 2 3/4.

Hope this helps! ^_~~

- Pam Joseph 7-09