Fraction (mathematics)

y Fractions (from Latin: fractus, "broken") are

numbers expressed as the ratio of two numbers, and are used primarily to express a comparison between parts and a whole. y The earliest fractions were reciprocals of integers: ancient symbols representing one part of two, one part of three, one part of four, and so on. A much later development were the common or "vulgar" fractions which are still used today (, , , etc.) and which consist of a numerator and a denominator, the numerator representing a number of equal parts and the denominator telling how many of those parts make up a whole. An example is 3/4, in which the numerator, 3, tells us that the fraction represents 3 equal parts, and the denominator, 4, tells us that 4 parts make up a whole.

y A still later development was the

decimal fraction, now called simply a decimal, in which the denominator is a power of ten, determined by the number of digits to the right of a decimal separator, the appearance of which (e.g., a period, a raised period (), a comma) depends on the locale (for examples, see decimal separator). Thus for 0.75 the numerator is 75 and the denominator is 10 to the second power, viz. 100, because there are two digits to the right of the decimal separator.

yA third kind of

fraction still in common use is the percentage, in which the denominator is always 100. Thus 75% means 75/100.

yOther uses for fractions

are to represent ratios, and to represent division. Thus the fraction 3/4 is also used to represent the ratio 3:4 (three to four) and the division 3 4 (three divided by four).

Terminology
y Historically, any number that did not

represent a whole was called a "fraction". The numbers that we now call "decimals" were originally called "decimal fractions"; the numbers we now call "fractions" were called "vulgar fractions", the word "vulgar" meaning "commonplace".

Writing fractions
y A common or vulgar fraction is usually

written as a pair of numbers, the top number called the numerator and the bottom number called the denominator. A line usually separates the numerator and denominator. If the line is slanting it is called a solidus or forward slash, for example 3/4. If the line is horizontal, it is called a vinculum or, informally, a "fraction bar", thus: .

y The solidus may be omitted from

the slanting style (e.g. 34) where space is short and the meaning is obvious from context, for example in road signs in some countries. y In computer displays and typography, simple fractions are sometimes printed as a single character, e.g. (one half).

Usage
y Fractions are used most often when

the denominator is relatively small. It is easier to multiply 32 by 316 than to do the same calculation using the fraction's decimal equivalent (0.1875). It is also more accurate to multiply 15 by , for example, than it is to multiply 15 by a decimal approximation of one third

y To change a common fraction to

a decimal, divide the numerator by the denominator, and round off to the desired accuracy. Conversely, a decimal fraction may be converted to a common fraction: if dealing with a finite number of digits, it's very easy; for example, 0.1875 may be expressed as (and later simplified, if desired).

Forms of fractions
y A vulgar fraction (or common fraction or simple

fraction) is a rational number written as one integer (the numerator) divided by a non-zero integer (the denominator) such as . y A vulgar fraction is said to be a proper fraction if the absolute value of the numerator is less than the absolute value of the denominatorthat is, if the absolute value of the entire fraction is less than 1; a vulgar fraction is said to be an improper fraction (US, British or Australian) or top-heavy fraction (British, occasionally North America) if the absolute value of the numerator is greater than or equal to the absolute value of the denominator (e.g. ) .

Mixed numbers
y A mixed number is the sum of a whole

number and a proper fraction. This sum is implied without the use of any visible operator such as "+"; for example, in referring to two entire cakes and three quarters of another cake, the whole and fractional parts of the number are written next to each other:

An improper fraction can be thought of as another way to write a mixed number. A mixed number can be converted to an improper fraction in three steps:
y Multiply the whole part by the denominator of the

fractional part. y Add the numerator of the fractional part to that product. y The resulting sum is the numerator of the new (improper) fraction, with the 'new' denominator remaining precisely the same as for the original fractional part of the mixed number.

Similarly, an improper fraction can be converted to a mixed number:

y Divide the numerator by the

denominator. y The quotient (without remainder) becomes the whole part and the remainder becomes the numerator of the fractional part. y The new denominator is the same as that of the original improper fraction.

Equivalent fractions
y Multiplying the numerator and denominator

of a fraction by the same (non-zero) number, the results of the new fraction is said to be equivalent to the original fraction. The word equivalent means that the two fractions have the same value. That is, they retain the same integrity - the same balance or proportion. This is true because for any non-zero number n, .

y Therefore, multiplying by

is equivalent to multiplying by one, and any number multiplied by one has the same value as the original number. For instance, consider the fraction : when the numerator and denominator are both multiplied by 2, the result is , which has the same value (0.5) as . To picture this visually, imagine cutting the example cake into four pieces; two of the pieces together ( ) make up half the cake ( ).

For example

y Dividing the numerator and denominator of

a fraction by the same non-zero number will also yield an equivalent fraction. This is called reducing or simplifying the fraction. A fraction in which the numerator and denominator are coprime [this means they have no factors in common (other than 1)] is said to be irreducible or in its lowest or simplest terms. For instance, is not in lowest terms because both 3 and 9 can be exactly divided by 3. In contrast, is in lowest termsthe only number that is a factor of both 3 and 8 is 1.

y Any fraction can be fully reduced to

its lowest terms by dividing both the numerator and denominator by their greatest common divisor. For example, the greatest common divisor of 63 and 462 is 21, therefore, the fraction can be fully reduced by dividing the numerator and denominator by 21:

Reciprocals and the "invisible denominator"

yThe reciprocal of a

fraction is another fraction with the numerator and denominator reversed. The reciprocal of , for instance, is .

y Because any number divided by

one results in the same number, it is possible to write any whole number as a fraction by using 1 as the denominator: 17 = (1 is sometimes referred to as the "invisible denominator "). Therefore, except for zero, every fraction or whole number has a reciprocal. The reciprocal of 17 would be .

Complex fractions
y A complex fraction (or

compound fraction) is a fraction in which the numerator or denominator contains a fraction. For example, and are complex fractions.

yTo simplify a

complex fraction, divide the numerator by the denominator, as with any other fraction (see the section on division for more details):

For Examples: