Proper Fractions
Proper fractions are not just fractions that have good manners. They are also fractions where the numerator is less than the denominator.
So in other words, Numerator Numerator < Denominator
Denominator Denominator > Numerator
So in other words, Numerator Numerator < Denominator
Denominator Denominator > Numerator
Or, 3 4 |
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You use proper fractions every day! Other proper fractions that you might recognize are:
Improper Fractions
Improper Fractions are fractions where the numerator is larger than the denominator.
Numerator Numerator > Denominator
Denominator Denominator < Numerator
Numerator Numerator > Denominator
Denominator Denominator < Numerator
4 3 |
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Now it is time to figure out what improper fractions actually mean.
Practice Problem:
Demonstrate what the fraction 15/8 means using blocks.
Like in the fraction 7/4 the denominator tells us how many parts the block is broken up into. In this case the denominator in the fraction 15/8 tells us that the big block is broken up into small blocks of 1/8. In other words, each small block is one part of a bigger block that is broken up into eighths. |
Try this practice problem.
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