Happy 5th Week of Summer!

My computer survived the virus attack. Be very weary of unknown sites..
Let's continue with fractions and decimals.....
Equivalent fractions have the same value, that is, are the same amount. They just have a different denominator. They are divided into a different number of parts or pieces.

Go back to past posts to review how to change from improper fractions to mixed numbers. Remember a mixed number or improper fraction show amounts that are equal to or greater than 1 whole.

So far, everything should sound pretty familiar. Putting a fraction into LOWEST TERMS is new. To put a fraction into lowest terms, we must find the GREATEST OR HIGHEST COMMON FACTOR (GCF or HCF). This is where knowledge of your division and multiplication facts is very important. You have to find the biggest number that divides evenly into both the numerator and the denominator.
For example, let's look at the fraction 4/6. What is the biggest number that divide evenly into both 4 and 6? To find this, list all the factors of 4 and 6 and look at the largest one they have in common.

1 x 4 = 4 and 2 x 2 = 4 so the factors of 4 are 1, 2, 4
1 x 6 = 6 and 2 x 3 = 6 so the factors of 6 are 1, 2, 3, 6

The largest factor they have in common is 2. If you divide the numerator and denominator of 4/6 by 2 we get 2/3. 4/6 in lowest terms is 2/3.
Watch the video below to help understand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtBUQH8Tkqc&t=14s

 

 



 

A little game to play:

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fractions/mathman_reduce_fractions.htm

 

Next week will be my last post. I have to get ready for next year! I opened all the windows to Mathletics so feel free to practice, practice, practice!!