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Math for Kids23 chapters | 325 lessons
Nicole has taught at both the elementary and high school levels, specializing in gifted education, elementary education, and technology.
Whether you like to bake treats in the kitchen, using 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon baking powder or work with tools to build something new, cutting 3/4'' off a piece of wood, you know that fractions are everywhere. So, it's helpful to know how to work with them to get our projects done.
We already know that fractions are an equal part of a whole, and when you are multiplying fractions, you are simply adding together groups of the same number. Multiplication is just a faster way to get there. So let's get started!
A compound fraction, also known as a mixed number, is a combination of a fraction and a whole number. You will remember that when you multiply fractions, you go straight across, multiplying the numerators, numbers on top, and then multiplying the denominators, the numbers on the bottom. In order to multiply compound fractions, we first have to convert the compound fraction into an improper fraction, which is a fraction whose numerator is larger than its denominator. Let's take a look.
We take the whole number in front of the fraction and multiply it by the denominator. In our example of 4 1/3, we will multiply 4 (our whole number) x 3 (the denominator of our fraction). We need to know how many total parts we have.
We take this product, 12 (4 x 3 = 12) and add it to the numerator that we already have, in this example 1 for the total, 12 + 1 = 13. We still leave this number over the same denominator, 3. So, we now have an improper fraction (numerator is greater than the denominator) of 13/3.
If you are multiplying two compound fractions, you will need to do this to each one.
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We have finally arrived at the heart of this lesson: Multiplying compound fractions.
Now that we have converted our compound fraction into an improper fraction, we can easily multiply it with another fraction. This is a skill you already have, but let's just try one example before moving on:
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To really test our skills, this time we are going to multiply two compound fractions together. Our steps are as follows:
The problem is: 2 1/3 x 3 1/2. Get a piece of paper and follow the steps above to do this problem. Don't scroll down until you have given it a try!
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Did you get 2 1/3? I hope so! And don't forget... practice makes perfect.
Multiplying compound fractions requires that we first convert them into improper fractions. Once we have completed this conversion, we multiply like we always do with fractions: numerator times numerator and denominator times denominator. Many times this answer will need to be converted back to a mixed number and then simplified, but if you take these problems step-by-step, you will reach the correct answer in no time!
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Math for Kids23 chapters | 325 lessons