GUIDE TO EVERYTHING

FRACTIONS
A COMPLETE OVERVIEW FOR ALL THOSE WHO NEVER
REALLY GOT IT THE FIRST TIME THROUGH.
A GUIDE FOR STUDENTS, ADULTS AND TEACHERS
JAMES TANTON
CONTENTS:
Page 3: What is a Fraction?
Page 12: The Key Fraction Rule
Page 16: Adding and Subtracting Fractions
Page 22: Multiplying Fractions
Page 30: Some Jargon
Page 32: Dividing Fractions (Without Really Knowing It!)
Page 38: Algebra Connections (OPTIONAL)
Page 40: Multiplying and Dividing by Numbers Bigger and Smaller than 1
Page 43: Fractions with Zero and Negative Numbers
EXTRA:
Page 47: Brief Introduction to Egyptian Fractions
Page 50: A Curious Fraction Tree
SOLUTIONS: Page 51
HONESTY STATEMENT: The Real Reason Why Fractions Are So Hard Pg 54
This material is based on work from the reference seriesTHINKING

MATHEMATICS!

Volume 1: ARITHMETIC = GATEWAY TO ALL

available at ww.lulu.com/jtanton.

James Tanton 2009

James Tanton 2009

WHAT IS A FRACTION?
Simply put, a fraction is an answer to a division problem.
For example, suppose 6 pies are to be shared equally among 3 boys. This yields 2
pies per boy. We write:

6
3
(We could, of course, also write 6 3

2
2 or

.)

6
3

Here the fraction , our division problem, is equivalent to the number 2. It

represents the number of pies one whole boy receives.
In the same way

10
2

sharing 10 pies among 2 boys yields:

5 pies per boy.

sharing 8 pies among 2 boys yields:

8
2

sharing 5 pies among 5 boys yields:

5
5

and
the answer to sharing 1 pie among 2 boys is

James Tanton 2009

1
, which we call one half.
2

This final example is actually saying something! It also represents how fractions are
usually taught to students:

If one pie is shared (equally) between two boys, then each boy receives a portion of
a pie which we choose to call half.

Thus students are taught to associate the number

In the same way, the picture

1
to the picture
2

is said to represent one third, that is,

1
.
3

(And this is indeed the amount of pie an individual boy would receive if one pie is
shared among three.)

The picture

is called one fifth and is indeed

1
, the amount of pie an
5

individual boy receives when one pie is shared among five.

And the picture

is called three fifths to represent

3
, the amount of pie
5

an individual receives if three pies are shared among five boys.

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EXERCISE 1: Draw a picture associated with the fraction

1
.
6

EXERCISE 2: Draw a picture associated with the fraction

3
. Is your picture
7

really the amount of pie an individual boy would receive if three pies are shared
among seven boys? Be very clear on this!
EXERCISE 3: Lets now do it backwards! Here is the answer to a division problem:

This represents the amount of pie an individual boy receives if some number of pies
is shared among some number of boys.
How many pies? _________
How many boys? _________

EXERCISE 4: Here is another answer to a division problem:

How many pies? _________

How many boys? _________

EXERCISE 5: Here is yet another answer to a division problem:

How many pies ? _______

How many boys? _______

EXERICSE 6: Leigh says that

3
1
is three times as big as . Is this right? Is
5
5

three pies shared among five boys three times as much as one pie shared among
five boys? What do you think?

James Tanton 2009

EXERCISE 7: Draw a picture for the answer to the division problem

what you notice about the answer.
EXERCISE 8: Draw a picture for the answer to the division problem
what you notice about the answer.
EXERCISE 9: What does the division problem
individual boy receive?
EXERCISE 10: What does the division problem
an individual boy receive?
EXERCISE 11: What does the division problem
an individual boy receive?

4
. Describe
8

2
. Describe
10

1
represent? How much pie does an
1

5
represent? How much pie does
1

5
represent? How much pie does
5

EXERCISE 12: Here is the answer to another division problem. This is the amount
of pie an individual boy receives

How many pies were there in the division problem? ______

How many boys were there in the division problem? _____

EXERCISE 13: How many pies and how many boys for this answer?

Number of pies: ______

Number of boys: ______

James Tanton 2009

EXERCISE 14: Many teachers have young students divide differently shaped pies
into fractions. For example, a hexagonal pie is good for illustrating the fractions

2 3 4 5
6
, , ,
and !
6 6 6 6
6

a) Why is this shape used? What does

b) What does

1
of a pie look like?
6

6
of a pie look like?
6

c) What shape pie would be good for illustrating the fractions

1
8
up to
?
8
8

EXERCISE 15: TRICKY

Some rectangular pies are distributed to some number of boys. This picture
represents the amount of pie an individual boy receives.

How many pies ? ______.

How many boys? ______.

James Tanton 2009

1
,
6

8
THINKING EXERCISE: Lets be gruesome. Instead of dividing pies, we could
divide boys!
Here is one boy:

What would half a boy look like?

What would a third of a boy look like?
What would three fifths of a boy look like?
No need to write anything. Just try to imagine what these answers would be!

James Tanton 2009

9
a
represents the amount of pie an individual boy
b
receives when a pies are given to b boys.
IN OUR MODEL A fraction

(Note: We are assuming, for now, that both a and b are positive numbers.)

EXERCISE 16: What is

2 7 100
a
? ?
? What is
for any positive whole number a ?
2 7 100
a

EXERCISE 17: What is

1876
?
1

EXERCISE 18: I have no pies to share among seven boys.

Use this to make a statement about a division problem and hence a statement about
fractions.

SOME FANCY LANGUAGE

a
, the top number a (which, for us, is the number of pies) is called
b
the numerator of the fraction, and the bottom number b (the number of pies), the
For a fraction

denominator of the fraction. Most people insist that these numbers each be whole
numbers, but they really dont have to be.
To see what I mean, lets have some fun!

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10

QUESTION: What does

1
1
2

represent?

This means assigning one pie to each group of half a boy. So how much would a
whole boy receive?
Answer: Two pies!

We have:

1
1
2

QUESTION: What does

1
1
3

represent?

Answer: Distributing one pie to each group of a third of a boy yields the result of
3 whole pies for an individual boy.

1
1
3

EXERCISE 19: What is the answer to

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1
?
1
6

11

EXERCISE 20: The answer to

5
1
2

is ten. Do you we why? [How many pies are

given to half a boy?]

EXERCISE 21: What is the answer to

4
?
1
3

SCARY COMPLETELY-OPTIONAL CHALLENGE:

Two-and-a-half pies are to be shared equally among four-and-a-half boys!

How much pie does an individual (whole) boy receive?

This is a very tricky problem. Only attempt this if it seems fun to do so. Well see a
very easy way to think about these types of problems a little bit later in this
packet.

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12

THE KEY FRACTION RULE

We have that

a
is an answer to a division problem:
b

a
represents the amount of pie an individual boy receives when a pies are
b
distributed among b boys.

What happens if we double the number of pies and double the number of boys?
Nothing! The amount of pie per boy is still the same:

2a
2b
For example, as the picture shows,

a
b

6
12
and
both give two pies for each boy.
3
6

And tripling the number of pies and tripling the number of boys also does not
change the final amount of pie per boy, nor does quadrupling each number, or onetrillion-billion-tupling the numbers!

6
3

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12
6

18
9

= two pies per boy

13

This leads us to want to believe a fraction rule:

FRACTION RULE:

xa
xb

a
(for positive numbers at least).
b

For example,

3
5

(sharing three pies among five boys)

yields the same result as

3 2
5 2

6
(sharing six pies among ten boys),
10

and as

3 100
5 100

300
(sharing 300 pies among 500 boys).
500

Going backwards

20
(sharing 20 pies among 32 boys)
32
is the same problem as:

5 4
8 4

5
(sharing five pies among eight boys).
8

Comment: Most people say we have cancelled or taken a common factor of 4 from
the numerator and the denominator.
Mathematicians call this process reducing the fraction to simpler terms. (Weve
made the numerator and denominator each smaller!) Teachers tend to say that we
are simplifying the fraction. (One has to admit that

James Tanton 2009

5
20
does look simpler than
.)
8
32

14
As another example

280
can certainly be simplified by noticing that there is a
350

common factor of 10 in both the numerator and the denominator:

280
350

28 10
35 10

28
35

We can go further as 28 and 35 are both multiples of 7:

28
35

4 7
5 7

4
5

Thus, sharing 280 pies among 350 boys gives the same result as sharing just 4 pies
among 5 boys!

280
350

4
5

As 4 and 5 share no common factors, this is as far as we can go with this example
(while staying with whole numbers!).

EXERCISE 22: MIX AND MATCH: On the top are some fractions that have not
been simplified. On the bottom are the simplified answers, but in random order.
Which simplified answer goes with which fraction? (Notice that there are less
answers than questions!)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

goes with _____

goes with _____
goes with _____
goes with _____
goes with _____
goes with _____

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15

EXERCISE 23: Jenny says that

4
does reduce further is you are willing to move
5

away from whole numbers. She writes:

4
5

2 2
1
2
2
2

2
1
2
2

Is she right? Does sharing 4 pies among 5 boys yield the same result as sharing 2
pies among 2

1
boys?
2

What do you think?

James Tanton 2009

16

ADDING AND SUBTRACTING FRACTIONS

Here are two very similar fractions:
It might be tempting to say

2
3
and . What might it mean to add them?
7
7

2
represents 2 pies being shared among 7 boys
7
3
represents 3 pies being shared among 7 boys
7
so

2
7

3
5
probably represents sharing 5 pies among 14 boys, giving the answer
.
7
14

That is, it is very tempting to say that adding fractions means to add pies and to
add boys.
The trouble is that a fraction is not a pie, and a fraction is not a boy. (So adding
pies and adding boys is not actually adding fractions.) A fraction is something
different. It is related to pies and boys, but something more subtle. A fraction is
an amount of pie per boy.
One cant add pies, one cant add boys. One must add instead the amounts individual
boys receive.
Lets take it slowly:
Consider the fraction

2
. Here is a picture of the amount an individual boy receives
7

when two pies are given to seven boys:

Consider the fraction

3
. Here is a picture of the amount an individual boy receives
7

when three pies are given to seven boys:

James Tanton 2009

17
The sum

2
7

3
corresponds to the sum:
7

The answer, from the picture, is

5
.
7

Most people read this as Two sevenths plus three sevenths gives five sevenths
and think that the problem is just as easy as saying two apples plus three apples
gives five apples. And, in the end, they are right!

2
7

3
7

5
7

This is how the addition of fractions is first taught to students: Adding fractions
with the same denominator seems just as easy as adding apples:
4 tenths + 3 tenths + 8 tenths = 15 tenths

4
10
(and, of course,

15
10

3
10

8
10

15
10

5 3
3
simplifies to ).
5 2
2

82 sixty-fifths + 91 sixty-fifths = 173 sixty-fifths

82
65

91
65

173
65

We are really adding amounts per boy, but the answers match the same way.
EXERCISE 24: Is subtraction of fractions manageable, at least for fractions with
a common denominator? What is

James Tanton 2009

400
903

170
, for example?
903

18
This approach to adding fractions suddenly becomes tricky if the denominators
involved are not the same common value. For example, what is

2
5

1
?
3

Lets phrase this question in terms of pies and boys.

Suppose Poindexter is part of a team of a five boys that receives two pies, and
then later part of a team of three boys that receives one pie. How much pie does
Poindexter receive in total?
a) Do you see that this is the same problem as computing

2
5

1
?
3

b) What might be the best approach to answering this problem?

Think about the challenge before reading on. It is actually a very difficult problem!
If you have any thoughts, write them here. If you dont have any thoughts about
how to do this, thats okay!

James Tanton 2009

19
One way to think about answering this addition question is to write

2
in a series of
5

alternative forms using our fraction rule (that is, multiply the numerator and
denominator each by 2, and then each by 3, and then each by 4, and so on) and to do
the same for

and then notice, that we can see two common denominators. We see that the
problem

2
5

1
6
is actually the same as
3
15

2
5

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1
3

5
11
, and so has answer
.
15
15

6 5
15 15

11
15

20
As another example, lets compute

3 3
:
8 10

COMMENT: Of course, one doesnt need to list all the equivalent forms of each
fraction in order to find a common denominator. If you can see a common
denominator right away (or can think of a method that always works), go for it!!!

1
2

1
? The answer is some number of sixths. How many
3

EXERCISE 26: What is

2
5

37
?
10

EXERCISE 27: What is

1
2

3
?
10

EXERCISE 28: What is

2
3

5
?
7

EXERCISE 29: What is

1
2

1
4

EXERCISE 30: What is

3
10

EXERCISE 25: What is

sixths?

James Tanton 2009

4
25

1
?
8
7
20

3
5

49
?
50

21
Lets do subtraction.

EXERCISE 31: What is

7
10

3
?
10

EXERCISE 32: What is

7
10

3
?
20

EXERCISE 33: What is

1
3

1
?
5

EXERCISE 34: What is

2
35

2
7

EXERCISE 35: What is

1
2

1
4

2
?
5
1 1
?
8 16

Heres a good question!

EXERCISE 36: Which is larger:

5
6
or
?
9
11

What is a good way to approach this? Perhaps write each fraction with a common
denominator?

James Tanton 2009

22

MULTIPLYING FRACTIONS
We saw in the previous sections that a fraction is simply an answer to a division
problem the amount of pie an individual boy receives when several pies are shared
among several boys.
For example,

2
is the result of sharing two pies among three boys.
3

Pies do not have to be round. We can have square pies:

Or triangular pies, or hexagonal pies, or wibbly-wobbly pies.

James Tanton 2009

23
In this section we shall work with straight-line pies!

This picture

represents two thirds, that is

line pie.

EXERCISE 37: How much pie per boy does

represent?

EXERCISE 38: How much pie per boy does

represent?

James Tanton 2009

2
, of a straight
3

24

Lets try to multiply fractions.

In geometry, multiplication of numbers corresponds to an area problem. For
example, the product 23 37 is the area of a 23-by-37 rectangle:

So the product of two fractions, say,

problem.

4
7

2
should also correspond to an area
3

Lets again start a rectangle, but this time divide one side-length into sevenths
(share the line segment among seven boys!) and the other side-length into thirds
(share the side among three boys!).

We can now mark off four sevenths and two thirds.

and we see that the rectangle is divided into 21 pieces in all.

James Tanton 2009

25

If we shade the region of interest to us we count 8 shaded pieces.

And, viewing this picture as a rectangular pie, we see that this picture corresponds
to the fraction

8
.
21

The shaded region is the area we seek, the one that corresponds to the area
problem

4
7

2
. So we must have:
3
4
7

2
3

8
21

THINKING EXERCISE:
The area problem

4
7

2
yielded a diagram with 21 small rectangles. Is it a
3

4
7

2
yielded a diagram with 8 small shaded rectangles. Is it a
3

coincidence that 21 happens to equal seven times three?

The area problem

coincidence that 8 equals four times two?

What do you think?

EXERCISE 39: Use this rectangle method to compute

see the answer clearly,
EXERCISE 40: What is the answer to

3 5
. Draw the picture to
4 6

3 5
5 7
? What is the answer to
?
8 10
11 12

EXERCISE 41: Compute the following products, simplifying each of the answers as
much as possible:
a)

5 3
8 7

James Tanton 2009

b)

4 4
7 8

c)

1 1
2 3

d)

2 3
1 1

e)

1 5
5 1

26
EXERCISE 42: Compute the following products. (Dont work too hard!)

5 7
5 8

a)

3 1 2
4 3 5

e)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

b)

c)

88 541
88 788

(Make good use of the fraction rule

xa
xb

d)

77876 311
311 77876

a
before you do any arithmetic!)
b

THINKING EXERCISE: Ralph says that the fraction rule

xa
xb

a
is obvious if
b

you think in terms of multiplying fractions. He reasons as follows:

We know multiplying anything by 1 doesnt change the number:

1 4 4
1 3565 3565
5 5
1
7 7
So

a
b

a
.
b

2
equals 1, so this means that
2
3
Now equals 1, so this means that
3
And so on.
Now

2 a
must still be
2 b
3 a
must still be
3 b

Do you agree with Ralphs insight?

How might Ralph explain why

James Tanton 2009

xa
xb

a
is true?
b

a
. So
b
a
. So
b

2a
2b
3a
3b

a
.
b
a
.
b

27
Many students are taught to multiply fractions by numbers by using the method of
multiplying fractions by fractions. For example, to compute:

think of 2 as

3
7

2
1

3
7

2
and then compute:
1

This has the answer:

The statement 2

3
7

6
.
7
6
can also be interpreted as:
7

Suppose three pies are shared among seven boys. (This is

To double the amount of pie each boy receives ( 2

3
.)
7

3
) just double the
7

6
).
7

number of pies ( that is, make it

3
7

6
7

Another way to think about this:

Double three sevenths is clearly six sevenths.

THINKING EXERCISE: Do you like any of these interpretations?

As another example:

3
8

equals

4 3
1 8
and of course this simplifies

James Tanton 2009

3 4
2 4

3
.
2

12
8

28
Heres another example of a product:

2
15

10

10 2
1 15

10 2
15

Rather than multiply out the numerator, lets break the numerator each into
factors and simplify the fraction:

10 2
15

2 5 2
3 5
2 2
3
4
3

And a third example:

212
16

8 212
16

Lets avoid work and notice that 16 is 8 2 . So:

8 212
16

8 212
8 2

212
2

106

EXERCISE 43: Compute each of the following, writing your answers in simplified
form. Avoid extra arithmetic if you can!
a) 3

g)

2
5

3 7
7 5

b) 17

h)

2
3

c) 10

1
5

d)

3
4
4

e) 11

36
33

5 4 13 7
13 7 2 10

EXERCISE 44: Compute

James Tanton 2009

133
224 in less than six seconds!
112

f)

13
24
12

29

EXERCISE 45: a) Compute 6

b) Compute 18

5
.
6

7
.
18

c) What can you say about b

d) What can you say about

a
?
b

m
n?
n

COMMENT: REMEMBER PARTS c) and d) OF THIS QUESTION!

EXERCISE 46: Ibrahim was asked to compute:

18 70
7 36
and, within three seconds, said that the answer was 5. He was right! How did he see
this so quickly?

EXERCISE 47: What is the value of

James Tanton 2009

39 14
?
35 13

30
SOME JARGON
Many people like to name things. (The reason for this is not always clear!)
A fraction with a numerator smaller than its denominator is called a proper
fraction. E.g.

45
is a proper fraction.
58

A fraction with numerator larger than its denominator is called an improper

fraction. E. g.

7
is an improper fraction. (In the 1800s, these fractions were
3

called vulgar fractions. Despite nineteenth-century views they are useful

nonetheless!)

For some reason that doesnt really make sense, improper fractions are considered,
well, improper by some teachers and students are made to write improper fractions
as a combination of a whole number and a proper fraction.
Consider, for example,

7
. If seven pies are shared among three girls, then each girl
3

will certainly receive 2 whole pies, leaving one pie over to share among the three
girls. Thus,

7
1
equals 2 plus . People write:
3
3
7
3

and call the result 2

1
3

1
1
1
a mixed number. (One can also write 2
, which is what 2
3
3
3

really means, but most people choose to suppress the plus sign.)

As another example, consider

23
. The number 4 certainly goes into 23 five times
4

and leaves a remainder of 3, which is still be divided by four. We have:

23
4

James Tanton 2009

3
4

31

EXERCISE 48: Write each of the following as a mixed number. (For example,

2
.)
5
17
a)
3

32
5

equals 6

b)

8
5

c)

100
13

d)

200
199

Mathematically there is nothing wrong with an improper fraction and many

mathematicians prefer improper fractions over mixed numbers.
Consider, for instance, the mixed number 2

1
. This is really 2
5

1
.
5

For fun, lets write the number 2 as a fraction with denominator five:

2
So the number 2

2
1

2 5
1 5

10
5

1
is:
5
2

Weve written the mixed number 2

1
5

10
5

1
5

11
5

1
11
as the improper fraction
.
5
5

EXERCISE 49: Convert each of these mixed numbers back into proper fractions:
a) 3

1
4

b) 5

1
6

c) 1

3
11

d) 200

1
200

COMMENT: Students are often asked to memorize the names proper fraction,
improper fraction and mixed number so that they can follow directions on tests
and problem sets.
But, to a mathematician, these names are not at all important!!
There is no correct way to express an answer (assuming, that the answer is
mathematically the right number!).
Just decide for yourself as you do your mathematics which type of fraction would
be best to work with as you do your task.

James Tanton 2009

32

DIVIDING FRACTIONS
2
3
pies are to be shared among 5 girls. How many pies
3
4
per individual girl does this yield?
2
7
Technically, we could just write down the answer as 3 and be done! (This is
3
5
4
Here is a nasty problem: 7

indeed the correct fraction for the problem!) Is there a way to make this look
friendlier?
Recall the key fraction rule:

xa
xb

a
b

Lets multiply the numerator and denominator of our answer each by a convenient
choice of number. Right now we have the expression:

2
3
3
5
4

2
3
3
5
4

Lets multiply by 3. (Why three?)

7
5
(Recall that

2
3
3
4

3
3

21 2
9
15
4

a
b equals a .)
b

Lets now multiply numerator and denominator each by 4. (Why four?)

21 2
9
15
4
We now see that the answer is
sharing 92 pies among 69 girls!

James Tanton 2009

4
4

84 8
60 9

92
69

92
2
3
. Sharing 7 pies among 5 girls is the same as
3
4
69

33

1
As another example, consider 2 .
1
1
2
3

Multiplying the numerator and denominator each by 2 should be enough to simplify

the expression:

1
2
1
1
2
3

1
2
1
1
2
3

1
2
1
1
2
3

2
2

6 1
2 1

2
EXERCISE 50: What fraction is 3 in disguise?
1
5
3
4

1
EXERCISE 51: What fraction is 5 in disguise?
1
2
4
2

4
EXERCISE 52: What fraction is 7 in disguise?
3
2
10
1

3
EXERCISE 53: What fraction is 7 in disguise?
4
5

James Tanton 2009

7
3

34
Without realizing it, we have just learned how to divide fractions.

4
. Recall, that a fraction is just a division problem
7
3
4
and here we are being asked about sharing
of a pie among
of a girl(!). That is,
5
7
For example, lets compute

3
5

we are being asked to compute:

3
5
4
7
Lets multiply numerator and denominator each by 5:

3
5
5
4
5
7

3
20
7

Lets now multiply top and bottom each by 7:

3 7
20
7
7

21
20

Done!
Lets do another. Lets consider

5 8
, that is:
9 11
5
9
8
11

Lets multiply top and bottom each by 9 and by 11 at the same time. (Why not?)

5
9 11
9
8
9 11
11
(Do you see what happened here?)

James Tanton 2009

5 11
8 9

35
and so:

5
9
8
11

5 11
8 9

55
72

EXERCISE 54: Compute each of the following:

a)

1
2

1
3

b)

4
5

3
7

c)

2
3

1
5

EXERCISE 55: Compute

45 902
. Do you see what the answer simply must be?
45 902

EXERCISE 56: Compute

10 2
. Any general comments about this one?
13 13

James Tanton 2009

36
THINKING EXERCISE:
Consider the problem

5 7
.
12 11

Janine wrote:

5
12
7
11

5
12 11
12
7
12 11
11

5 11
7 12

5 11
12 7

and then stopped before completing her final step.

a) Check each step of her work here and make sure that she is correct in what
she did up to this point.

Janine then exclaimed: Dividing one fraction by another is the same as multiplying
the first fraction with the second fraction upside down.

b) Do you see what Janine means by this from her example?

c) Is she right? Is dividing two fractions always the same as multiplying the
two fractions with the second one turned upside down? What do you think?

3
Work out 7 . Is the answer the same as
4
13
2
Work out 5 . Is the answer the same as
3
10
a
Work out b . Is the answer the same as
c
d

James Tanton 2009

3 13
?
7 4

2 10
?
5 3

a
b

d
?
c

37
THINKING EXERCISE:
Some teachers have students solve fraction division by rewriting expressions via a
common denominator. For example, to compute:

3
4

2
3

rewrite the problem as:

9
8
12 12
The claim is then made that the answer to the original problem is 9 8

a) Does

3
4

2
9
indeed equal ?
3
8

b) Work out

5
4

7
via the method of this section, and then again by the
9

method described above. Are the answers indeed the same?

Why do you think this common denominator method works?

THINKING EXERCISE:
Work out

12
15

9
.
8

3
4
and show that it equals .
5
3

Now notice that

12 3 4
15 5 3
and

12
15

3
5

Is this a coincidence or does

James Tanton 2009

4
3

a
b

c
a c
always equal
?
b d
d

38

ALGEBRA CONNECTIONS
(for those with upper high school mathematics experience)
In an advanced algebra course students are often asked to work with complicated
expressions of the following ilk:

1
1
x
3
x
We can make it look friendlier by following exactly the same technique of the
previous section. In this example, lets multiply the numerator and denominator each
by x . (Do you see why this is a good choice?) We obtain:

1
1 x
x
3
x
x
and

1 x
3

1 x
is much less scary.
3

As another example, given:

1
a

1
b
ab

one might find it helpful to multiply the numerator and the denominator each
by a and then each by b :

1
a

1
b

a b

ab a b

James Tanton 2009

b a
a 2b 2

39

and for

1
w 1
1
w 1

it might be good to multiply top and bottom each by w 1 :

2

1
w 1
1
w 1

1 2 w 1
1 5 w 1

2
2

EXERCISE 57: (OPTIONAL) Make each of the following expressions look

less scary:

1
x
a)
1
1
x
2

1
b) x h
1
x h
c)

1
1
a

1
b

1
d) x a
a

1
x

James Tanton 2009

40

MULTIPLYING AND DIVIDING BY NUMBERS BIGGER AND

SMALLER THAN ONE
People say that multiplying a quantity by a number bigger than one makes the
answer bigger. Is this true?
For instance,
by

5
represents more than one pie. Does multiplying 100, for example,
4

5
give an answer bigger than 100?
4

Well Yes:

5
100
4

500
125
4

Does multiplying any number, lets call it X , by

The answer is yes, and here it is good to write

5
give an answer larger than X ?
4
5
1
as a mixed number, 1 , to see
4
4

why. (Ah mixed numbers are good for something!)

5
X
4

1
X
4
1
1 X
X
4
X more
1

Yes, the answer is bigger than X .

EXERCISE 58: Show that multiplying a number by

8
is sure to give a larger
5

answer.
EXERCISE 59: Show that multiplying a number by
answer.

James Tanton 2009

20
is sure to give a larger
9

41
Does multiplying a quantity by a number smaller than one makes the answer
smaller?
Consider

4
, for instance. This represents less than one pie. Does multiplying 100 by
5

it give a smaller answer?

4
100
5

400
5

80

Yes!

Does multiplying any number X by

4
give an answer smaller than X ?
5

The answer is yes but we need to be tricky and write

unusual way!
Notice that

4
5

1
4
1 , and so
5
5

4
X
5

4
as a mixed number in an
5

1
. Thus:
5

1
X
5
1
X
X
5
smaller than X
1

EXERCISE 60: Show that multiplying a number by

7
is sure to give a smaller
8

answer.
EXERCISE 61: Show that multiplying a number by
answer.

James Tanton 2009

5
is sure to give a smaller
9

42
Now lets consider dividing a number by a quantity smaller than one. For example,
will 100 divided by

4
give an answer smaller or larger than 100? Lets see:
5

100
4
5

100 5
4
5
5

500
125
4

The answer is larger!

In general:

X
4
5
and we know that

X 5
4
5
5

5X
4

5
X
4

5
X will be larger than X . (We did this two pages ago!)
4

EXERCISE 62:Show that dividing a number X by

X.
EXERCISE 63: Show that dividing a number X by
than X .

James Tanton 2009

7
will give an answer larger than
9

8
will give an answer smaller
5

43

FRACTIONS INVOLVING ZERO AND NEGATIVE NUMBERS

Sharing zero pies among seven boys gives zero pie per boy:
reasonable to say:

0
a

0
7

0 . And it seems

for any positive number a . But what if things are flipped the other way round?
Does

a
0
make sense? Can we give meaning to ?
0
0

One checks whether or not a division problem is correct by performing

multiplication. For example:

6
2

3 is correct because 3 times 2 is indeed 6.

20
5

4 is correct because 4 times 5 is indeed 20.

18
1
2

36 is correct because 36 times

1
is indeed 18.
2

A THINKING QUESTION:

5
equals 2. Why is he not correct?
0
5
b) Ethel says that
equals 17. Why is she not correct?
0
5
c) Wonhi says that
equals 887231243. Why is he not correct?
0
5
d) Duane says that there is no answer to . Explain why he is correct.
0
a) Cyril says that

James Tanton 2009

44
A SECOND THINKING QUESTION:

0
equals 2.
0
0
Ethel says that
equals 17.
0
0
Wonhi says that
equals 887231243.
0
Cyril says that

Why do they each believe that they are correct?

What might Duane say here?
To answer these questions

Notice that if

5
0

2 , as Cyril says, then we should have that 2 times 0 is five,

according to the check. This is not correct.

In fact, the check shows that there is no number x for which

On the other hand, Cyril says that

0
0

x.

2 and he believes he is correct because it

passes the check: 2 times 0 is indeed zero. But so too does

0
0

5
0

887231243 pass the check! In fact,

0
0

0
17 and
0

x passes the check for any number x .

a
(with a not zero) is that there are no meaningful values to
0
0
assign to it, and the trouble with
is that there are too many possible values to
0
The trouble with

give it!

In general, most people would say that dividing by zero is simply too problematic to
be done! They say it is best to avoid doing so and never will allow zero as the
denominator of a fraction. (But all is fine with 0 as a numerator.)

James Tanton 2009

45
Could a fraction have negative entries?
To answer this question one must assume that one has some familiarity with
negative numbers. (If not, look at CHAPTER 4 of THINKING MATHEMATICS!
Volume 1.)
Mathematically, 2 represents the opposite of 2, in the sense that adding 2 and
2 together gives zero. If 2 represents two pies then 2 must represent two
anti-pies, magical things that cancel actual pies!
One can also think of
So what might

2 as

2 if that helps.

2
mean? Well, this is the result of sharing two anti-pies to
3

among three boys. Each boy then receives two thirds of an anti-pie.

What does

2
mean? We could try to interpret this as sharing two pies among
3

three anti-boys but that seems to be pushing things a bit. Perhaps the thing to do
is to make use of the fraction rule:

xa
xb

a
b

with the belief that it should work with all types of numbers, including negative
ones.
Lets take

2
3

2
and multiply the denominator and numerator each by 1 :
1 3

2
3

2
1 3

2
1

1
3

which is back to sharing two anti-pies to three boys.

James Tanton 2009

2
3

46
2
?
3

QUESTION: What is

We might guess that this would be the opposite of sharing two pies among three
boys, which, we might say, is sharing two anti-pies among three boys:

2
3

2
.
3

The mathematics agrees:

2
3

2
3

1
1

2
3

2
3

We have:

2
2
and
and
3
3
People call writing
sign.

a
as
b

EXERCISE 64:

a
?
b
8 2
b) What is
?
9
5
a) What is

James Tanton 2009

2
are the same quantity in different guises.
3
a
a
, and writing
as
b
b

a
, as pulling out a negative
b

47

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO EGYPTIAN FRACTIONS

(See THINKING MATHEMATICS! Volume 1 for more. )
Scholars of ancient Egypt (ca. 3000 B.C.) were very practical in their approaches to
mathematics and always sort answers to problems that would be of most
convenience to the people involved. This led them to a curious approach to thinking
about fractions.
Consider the problem: Share 7 pies among 12 boys.
Of course, given our model for fractions, each boy is to receive the quantity
of pie. This answer has little intuitive feel.

12

But suppose we took this task as a very practical problem. Here are the seven pies:

Is it possible to give each of the boys a whole pie? No. How about the next best
thing each boy half a pie? Yes! There are certainly 12 half pies to dole out. There
is also one pie left over yet to be shared among the 12 boys. Divide this into
twelfths and hand each boy an extra piece.

Thus each boy receives

James Tanton 2009

1
2

1
7
of a pie and it is indeed true that
12
12

1
2

1
.
12

48
EXERCISE 65:
a) How do you think the Egyptians might have shared five pies among six girls?

b) How might they have shared 7 pies among 12 students?

The Egyptians insisted on writing all their fractions as sums of fraction with
numerators equal to 1. For example:

3
1
was written as
10
4

5
1
was written as
7
2

1
20

1
5

1
70

That is, to share 3 pies among 10 students, the Egyptians said to give each student
one quarter of a pie and one twentieth of a pie.
To share 5 pies among 7 students, the Egyptians suggested giving our half a pie, and
one fifth of a pie, and one seventieth of a pie to each student.

EXERCISE 66: It is true that

4
13

1
4

1
18

1
. What does this say about how the
468

Egyptians would have shared 4 pies among 13 girls?

James Tanton 2009

49

The curious thing is that the Egyptians did not like to repeat fractions. Although it
is obviously true that:

2
5

1
5

1
5

the Egyptians really did think it better to give each person receiving pie piece as
large as possible, and so preferred the answer:

2
5

1 1
3 15

(even though it meant giving out a tiny piece of pie with that bigger piece).
EXERCISE 67: Consider the fraction

2
.
11

1
2
is bigger than
.
5
11
1
2
b) Show that
is smaller than
.
6
11
2 1
c) Work out
.
11 6
2
Use c) to write
the Egyptian way.
11
a) Show that

EXERCISE 68: Consider the fraction

a) What is the biggest fraction
b) Write

2
the Egyptian way.
7

EXERCISE 69: CHALLENGE

17
the Egyptian way.
20
3
b) Write
the Egyptian way.
7
a) Write

James Tanton 2009

2
.
7

1
2
that is still smaller than ?
N
7

50

A CURIOUS FRACTION TREE

Here is something fun to think about. Consider the following fraction tree:

Do you see how it works? Do you see that each fraction has two children? The
left child is always a number smaller than 1 and the right child is always a number
larger than 1.
Do you see how the box to the upper right gives the method for computing the two
children of the fraction?
a) Continue the drawing the fraction tree for another two rows.

13
will eventually appear in the tree. (It might be
20
13
13
easier to figure out what
s parent is by first noticing that
is a left
20
20

b) Explain why the fraction

child. What is its grandparent? What is its great grand parent?)

c) Explain why the fraction

d) Will the fraction

James Tanton 2009

13
cannot appear twice in the tree.
20

456
eventually appear in the tree? Could it appear twice?
777

51

SOLUTIONS
1.

2.

This really does represent the amount of pie an individual boy receives when 3 pies
are shared among 7 boys.
3. 2 pies, 5 boys.

4. 4 pies, 5 boys

5. 4 pies, 7 boys

6. Yes. This is correct thinking.

7.

4
1
is the same answer as
8
2

8.

2
1
is the same answer as
10
5

1
1 One pie per boy!
1
5
1 One pie per boy.
11.
5
9.

10.

5
1

5 Five pies for one (lucky) boy!

12. 3 pies, 2 boys

13. 8 pies, 3 boys

14.

a)

1
6

James Tanton 2009

It is easy to divide a hexagon into six equal parts.

52

b)

6
6

c) Octagon

15. 35 pies, 72 boys

18.

0
7

16.

0 (Zero pie per boy.)

a
a

17.

1876
1876
1

19. 6

20. Five pies for each half = 10 pies for a whole boy
21. Four pies for each third = 12 pies for a whole boy
22. 1(E) 2(A) 3(A) 4(C) 5(B) 6(D)
23. This is actually correct thinking.

400 170 230

1 1 3 2 5
2 37 4
25.
26.
903 903 903
2 3 6 6 6
5 10 10
1 3
5 3 4
2 5 14 15 29
1 1 1
27.
28.
29.
2 10 10 10 5
3 7 21 21 21
2 4 8
30 16
35 60 98 239
7 3 2
14
30.
31.
32.
100 100 100 100 100 100
10 10 5
20
5 3
2
2 10 14 6
8 4 2 1
33.
34.
35.
15 15 15
35 35 35 35
16 16 16 16
5 55
6 54
5
5
4
36.
and
so
is larger. 37.
38.
9 99
11 99
9
8
9
24.

37
10
4
8
3
20
1
16

41
10
2 1
8 8
11
20

7
8

39.

3 5
4 6

15
24

15 35
15
2
1
;
41.a)
b)
c)
d) 1!
7
6
80 121
56
3 1 2 1 2 1 1 1
5 7
7 7
1
1
42. a)
b)
c) 1!!! d)
4 3 5 4 5 2 5 10
5 8
8 8
10
6
34
36
3
5 4
12 f) 13 2 26 g)
43. a)
b)
c) 2 d) 3 e)
h)
5
3
5
2 10
3
133
224 133 2 266 45. a) 5 b) 7 c) a d) m
44.
112
18 70 18 70 10
14 42
5
46.
47. 3
7 36 7 36
2
35 35
40.

James Tanton 2009

2
1
2

53
48.a) 5

2
3

3
5
44
51.
45
b) 1

7
8
10
10
56. 13
2
2
13
x x a
50.

d)

ax x a

9
1
d) 1
13
199
110
15
52.
53.
161
28

c) 7

57. a)

a
ax x a

13
31
14
40001
b)
c)
d)
4
6
11
200
3
28
10
54. a)
b)
c)
55.1 1 1!!!
2
3
15
49. a)

1 5 x h
2x 1
b)
x 1
1

1 5 x h

c)

ab
b a

1
x x a

8
3
3
X
1
X X
X X more
5
5
5
20
11
11
59.
X
1
X X
X X more
9
9
9
7
1
1
60.
X
1
X X
X less than X
8
8
8
5
4
4
61.
X
1
X X
X less than X
9
9
9
X 9X 9
X 5X
X more than X
62.
63.
7
8
7
7
8
9
5
a
16
64. a)
b)
b
45
1 1
65. a)
Half a pie and a third of a pie to each girl
2 3
1 1
b)
Half a pie and a twelfth of a pie to each girl.
2 12
58.

5
X
8

less than X

66. One quarter of a pie and one 18th of a pie and one 468th of a pie to each girl.

1 11
2 10
1
1 11
2 12
1
and
so
is larger. b)
and
so
is smaller.
5 55
11 55
5
6 66
11 66
6
2 1 12 11 1
2 1 1
c)
d)
11 6 66 66 66
11 6 66
1
2 1 1
68. a)
b)
. (Other answers are possible.)
4
7 4 28
17 1 1 1
3 1 1
1
69. a)
(Other answers are possible.) b)
(Other
20 2 3 60
7 3 11 231
67.a)

answers are possible.)

FRACTION TREE: Every reduced fraction does appear in the tree exactly once.

James Tanton 2009

54

HONESTY STATEMENT: THE REAL REASON WHY

FRACTIONS ARE SO HARD
PERSONAL COMMENTARY
I have met several professional mathematicians who have expressed to me great
admiration for K-8 teachers in their abilities to teach so-called elementary topics. They
recognize that basic concepts are fundamentally hard, profoundly hard, and nigh-on
impossible to actually pin down. What is a fraction? A mathematician will answer: No
clue!
The approach Ive taken in this packet actually illustrates the problem. It may seem that I
have offered clarity and insight, but I havent really. Ive cheated a bit. Not because I
wanted to, but because I was forced to.
Here are the discrepancies:
1. I started off by saying that a fraction is simply the answer to a division problem. In
our case, the answer to a problem of sharing pies among boys. So in the opening sections
of these notes, a fraction is some entity with units pie per boy.
However, when I drew answers to division problems I just drew pie:

These pictures suggest that fractions are actually portions of pie. (That is, the answers are
quantities with units being pie, not pie per boy.) All curricula do this and give the
impression that a fraction is an amount of pie.
In my notes I loosely tried to cover this discrepancy by reminding the reader that these
pictures are to be interpreted as the amount of pie an individual boy receives. Already
matters are a tad murky.
Thinking in terms of pie per boy was important in establishing the fundamental rule:
xa a
.
xb b

James Tanton 2009

55
2. I was insistent that pictures of pie represented amounts per boy when it came to
adding fractions. To make sense of the addition rule for fractions we have to point out
that we are not adding pies and adding boys separately, but doing something more subtle:
adding portions of pie individual boys receive. (Very confusing!)
Most curricula just have students combine pie (not pie per boy) as the following
picture plainly suggests:

We are caught between two interpretations.

3. When it comes to multiplying fractions, everything must be thrown out of the window!
There is no meaning to multiplying portions of pie, or even multiplying portions of pie
per boy.

So what is a fraction now if we are being asked to multiply them?

We are forced to switch models and now think of fractions as simply portions. I chose
to go with portions of line segments that allowed me to invoke an area model to make
sense of multiplication.
Most people wouldnt think twice about it, but this switch of gear is fundamentally
perturbing: Does a fraction have anything to do with pie or pies per boy or not? If the
answer is that a fraction is more of an abstract concept that applies simultaneously to pies
and boys and to portions of line segments, then what is that concept exactly? What is a
fraction really?
The problem is that there is no single model that makes sense of fractions in all contexts.
And think about our poor young students. We keep switching concepts and models, and
speak of fractions in each case as though all is naturally linked and obvious. All is not
obvious and all is absolutely confusing.
So how are young students meant to have a firm grasp on fractions?

James Tanton 2009

56
WHAT MATHEMATICIANS DO
Mathematicians are honest and admit that there is no firm statement of what a fraction is.
It is fundamentally an abstract concept that really cannot be pinned down with one
concrete model.
On one level one can say--dryly--that a fraction is simply a pair of numbers a and b
(with b not zero) written in the following form:

a
b
But even this is not quite right. A whole infinite collection of pairs of numbers represent
2 4 6 8
the same fraction (for example,
). So a single fraction is actually a
3 6 9 12
whole infinite class of pairs of numbers dubbed equivalent.
This is a hefty shift of thinking: The notion of a number has changed from being a
specific combination of symbols (for example, 23) to a whole class of combinations of
symbols that are deemed equivalent.

Mathematicians then define the addition of fractions to be given by the daunting rule:
a c ad bc
(obviously motivated by the pies per boy model), but must worry
b d
bd
a
c
about proving that choosing different representations for
and for
lead to the same
b
d
2 4
4 40
final answer. (For example, it is not immediately obvious that
and
give
3 5
6 50
answers that are equivalent.)

a c ac
and again prove that all is
b d bd
consistent with different choices of representations.

They also define the product of fractions as:

Then mathematicians establish that the axioms of an arithmetic system hold with these
definitions and carry on from there!

This is abstract, dry and not at all the best first encounter to offer students on the topic of
fractions. And, moreover, this approach completely avoids the question as to what a
fraction really means in the real world. But it is the best one can do if one is to be

James Tanton 2009

57
completely honest. The definitions are certainly motivated by the type of work we did in
this pamphlet, but in the end one cant explain why these rules are the way they are.
SO what is a fraction, really?
Like I said no clue!
And this lack of answer leaves teachers, sadly, in a very awkward position when working
with students.

James Tanton 2009