3 < top number is called a numerator. 4 < bottom number is a denominator.
The numerator is the part. The denominator is the total number of parts.
We often use WHOLE numbers: 1, 48, 5,826
A proper fraction is less than 1.
A proper fraction's numerator is smaller than its denominator.
Examples: 5 78 3,709 . 8 100 15,603
An improper fraction's numerator is greater than its denominator. It is greater than 1.
Examples: 810015,600 3 78 3,700
Let's start with whole numbers and then look at proper fractions....
Do you like PIZZA?
When you order a pizza, you get 1 whole pizza. If you're ordering for a class, you might get 4 whole pizzas. 1 and 4 are whole numbers.
If you order a pizza, will you eat all of it at once? You'll probably eat a part... a fraction of the pizza. Good thing pizzas are sliced into smaller parts! Above is a whole pizza (1), and then some fractions.
These fractions, 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4, are unit fractions because they have a ONE at the top.
What do you notice about the pizza fractions above?
Do you see that the bigger the denominator, the smaller the slice? 1/4 < 1/2
Remember: The numerator is the part. The denominator is the total number of parts.
If I eat 1/4 of the pizza, I'm eating 1 slice out of a total of 4 slices.
Now imagine you have a pan pizza that was cut into 6 slices and you ate 2 of them. What fraction of the pizza did you eat?
You ate 2/6 of the pizza (2 over 6).
Fractions can look different but have the same value. We call them equivalent fractions.
Above we have halves of 3 pizzas. The first pizza is cut in half. That's a big slice! The middle pizza is cut in fourths, or quarters. 4 quarters make a dollar. 2 quarters = half (50¢) The third pizza is cut in eighths (8 pieces). Half of the total (8) is 4 slices. So, 1/2 = 2/4 = 4/8
What are mixed numbers? Mixed numbers have both a whole number and a fraction. For example:
Madison and Haylee bought 2 pizzas. Each pizza was cut into 8 equal slices. They ate 3 slices of one of the pizzas. Write a mixed number to represent the amount of pizza left.
They have 1 whole pizza and 5/8 of a pizza. Together that makes 1 5/8. You can read that as: "one and five-eighths." 1 5/8 is a mixed number.
One of the cool things you can do with mixed numbers is take them apart and put them back together.