Understanding Fractions
"Equal pieces, parts of a whole, and making sense of halves and quarters."
A Today you'll learn
- Understand a fraction as an equal part of a whole or a collection
- Identify and name the numerator (top number) and denominator (bottom number)
- Compare like fractions with the same denominator and represent them visually
B Let's understand
3 shaded parts out of 4 equal parts = 3/4
A fraction represents a part of a whole that has been divided into equal pieces. When you divide a whole pizza or a strip of paper into 4 equal slices and take 1 slice, you have one-fourth (1/4) of the pizza. In any fraction, the bottom number is called the denominator, which tells us how many equal parts the whole is divided into. The top number is called the numerator, which tells us how many of those equal parts we are considering. If two fractions have the same denominator, the one with the larger numerator is bigger because you are taking more equal pieces.
C See it step by step
- The whole chocolate bar has 6 equal pieces, so the denominator is 6.
- Ananya ate 2 pieces, so Ananya ate 2/6 of the chocolate.
- Rohit ate 3 pieces, so Rohit ate 3/6 of the chocolate.
- Comparing like fractions: 3/6 is greater than 2/6 because 3 > 2. Rohit ate more chocolate.
- First find the total number of days in 1 week: 1 week = 7 days.
- The whole collection is 7 days, so the denominator is 7.
- We want to represent 3 days, so the numerator is 3.
- The fraction is 3/7.
D Your turn
E Ready to practise?
Key idea 1
A fraction represents one or more equal parts of a whole.
Key idea 2
The top number is the numerator; the bottom number is the denominator.
In a fraction like 3/5
In a fraction like 3/5, 3 is the numerator and 5 is the denominator.
Key idea 4
Fractions with the same denominator are called like fractions.
When denominators are the same
When denominators are the same, the fraction with the larger numerator is greater (e.g., 4/7 > 2/7).