Home > Vulgar fraction

or 3 ÷ 4

or 3/4

or ³⁄₄

In this article, we will use the last of these notations. The first quantity, the number "on top of the fraction", is called the numerator, and the other number is called the denominator. The denominator can never be zero because division by zero is not defined. All vulgar fractions are rational numbers and, by definition, all rational numbers can be expressed as vulgar fractions.

1 Introduction

Consider this article a more gentle introduction to fractions: for a theoretical treatment see rational numbers. There is also a disambiguation page for fraction.

To understand the meaning of any vulgar fraction consider some unit (e.g. a cake) divided into an equal number of parts (or slices). The number of slices into which the cake is divided is the denominator. The number of slices in consideration is the numerator. So: Were I to eat 2 slices of a cake divided into 8 equal slices then I would have eaten ²⁄₈ (or two eighths) of the cake. Note that had the cake been divided into 4 slices and had I eaten one of those then I would have eaten the same amount of cake as before. Hence, ²⁄₈ = ¹⁄₄. Had I eaten 1 and a half full cakes I would have eaten 12 of the one eighth of a cake slices or ¹²⁄₈. If the cakes been divided into quarters I would have eaten ⁶⁄₄ cakes. ¹²⁄₈ = ⁶⁄₄ = ³⁄₂ = (1 + ¹⁄₂) cakes.

2 Arithmetic

Several rules for calculation with fractions are useful:

2.1 Cancelling

If both the numerator and the denominator of a fraction are multiplied or divided by the same non-zero number, then the fraction does not change its value. For instance, ⁴⁄₆ = ²⁄₃ and ¹⁄_x = x / x².

2.2 Adding fractions

To add or subtract two fractions, you first need to change the two fractions so that they have a common denominator, for example the lowest common multiple of the denominators which is called the lowest common denominator; then you can add or subtract the numerators. For instance, ²⁄₃ + ¹⁄₄ = ⁸⁄₁₂ + ³⁄₁₂ = ¹¹⁄₁₂.

2.3 Multiplying fractions

To multiply two fractions, multiply the numerators to get the new numerator, and multiply the denominators to get the new denominator. For instance, ²⁄₃ × ¹⁄₄ = (2×1) / (3×4) = ²⁄₁₂ = ¹⁄₆. It is helpful to read "²⁄₃ × ¹⁄₄" as "two thirds of one quarter". If I took ²⁄₃ of a cake and gave ¹⁄₄ of that part away, the part I gave away would be equivalent to ¹⁄₆ of a full cake.

Reciprocal of fractions. To take the reciprocal of fractions, simply swap the numerator and the denominator, so the reciprocal of ²⁄₃ is ³⁄₂. If the numerator is 1, i.e. the fraction is a unit fraction, then the reciprocal is an integer, namely the denominator, so the reciprocal of ¹⁄₃ is ³⁄₁ or 3.

Dividing fractions. As dividing is the same as multiplying by the reciprocal, to divide one fraction by another one, flip numerator and denominator of the second one, and then multiply the two fractions. For instance, (²⁄₃) / (⁴⁄₅) = ²⁄₃ × ⁵⁄₄ = (2×5) / (3×4) = ¹⁰⁄₁₂ = ⁵⁄₆.