What Are Fractions? (explained in 2 minutes)
What a fraction means, equal parts, the numerator and the denominator, and a worked example: finding three quarters of 20.
- Subject: Maths
- Age group: 10-14
What this video covers
- A fraction shows part of a whole, and a whole can be an object, a group, or a number split into equal parts.
- Equal parts have the same size, and the cake example shows one quarter and three quarters.
- The bottom number tells how many equal parts make the whole, while the top number tells how many parts are used.
- The top number is called the numerator, and the fraction line means division.
- Comparing the numerator and denominator tells whether a fraction is less than one or more than one.
- To find three quarters of twenty, the fraction is applied to twenty and twenty is first divided by four.
- Dividing twenty by four gives five for each quarter, then taking three quarters gives fifteen.
- The denominator sets each part's size, while the numerator chooses how many parts to take; the method applies to any fraction of a whole.
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Transcript
A fraction is a way of showing part of a whole. The whole could be one object, a group of objects, or a number. To make a fraction, we split the whole into equal parts.
Equal matters because each part must have the same size. If a cake is cut into four equal pieces, each piece is one quarter. One quarter means one out of four equal parts. Three quarters means three of those four parts.
In a fraction, the bottom number tells you how many equal parts make the whole. It is called the denominator. The top number tells you how many of those parts are being used.
It is called the numerator. So in three quarters, the four is the denominator and the three is the numerator. The fraction line means division: three quarters means three divided by four.
Fractions can be less than one or more than one. If the numerator is smaller than the denominator, the fraction is less than one. If it is larger, the fraction is more than one.
Here is a worked example. Suppose you want to find three quarters of twenty. The word of tells you that the fraction is being applied to a quantity. First, divide twenty by the denominator, which is four.
Twenty divided by four equals five, so each quarter of twenty is five. Next, multiply that result by the numerator: three times five equals fifteen. Therefore, three quarters of twenty is fifteen.
This works because the denominator sets the size of each part, while the numerator chooses how many parts to take. The same method works for any fraction of a whole.