This topic focuses on fractions. Fractions describe parts of a whole, and they crop up all the time in daily life. When you buy sunglasses at a half-price sale, eat three-quarters of a pizza, get a grade of 36 out of 40 in a quiz, or add one
and a half cups of sugar to a pancake mix, you’re dealing with fractions.
A fraction is part of a whole
A pizza is cut into eight pieces and we eat five of them
We have three pieces left, or three-eighths of the pizza still to eat
Learning objectives
After studying this unit you should be able to:
describe what a fraction is
identify proper fractions and improper fractions and convert between improper fractions and mixed numbers
use equivalent fractions to compare the size of fractions
perform the operations addition, subtraction, multiplication and division using fractions
