Kieran Morrison Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Stuck with maths again. How do you simplify a fraction? when i multiply fractions i would end up with a number like 586/3 (just say the / means the 3 is under it) I need to know how to simplyfy it down, my teacher doesnt explain things properly so i have no clue what to do. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrishayton Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Stuck with maths again. How do you simplify a fraction? when i multiply fractions i would end up with a number like 586/3 (just say the / means the 3 is under it) I need to know how to simplyfy it down, my teacher doesnt explain things properly so i have no clue what to do. cheers Ask you teacher. Asking on TF aint a great idea. Can your parents not help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 I swear you ask every maths question you get asked on here... Ask your teacher - if they won't help, make a complaint, it's their job to help you understand it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 586/3 You just divide 583 by 3 to get 195.333333 otherwise known as 195 and a third (1/3) That's all fractions are 1/2 is 1 divided by 2 = a half = 0.5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieran Morrison Posted May 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 586/3 You just divide 583 by 3 to get 195.333333 otherwise known as 195 and a third (1/3) That's all fractions are 1/2 is 1 divided by 2 = a half = 0.5 So say the whole number in the answer was 4, it would be 4 and ?/? And i dont understand the 1/2 is 1 divided by 2 etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manuel Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 ask your teacher, or even google. First few results all are pretty good. and in your example 586/3 you could argue that that is the simplest form - Smallest denominator possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) So say the whole number in the answer was 4, it would be 4 and ?/? Yeah pretty much. Do you even know what fractions are? Fractions are used sometimes when say dividing 10 by 4. You get an answer of 2.5 so it's generally simpler to write 2½. The ½ simpley represents 1 divided by 2 which just means a half which also means 0.5 Edited May 9, 2011 by JT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 In my mind simplifying fractions doesn't mean converting to 4 and a half (or 4.5), it means reducing a fraction to it's simplest form, as Rowan said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt.price Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 take a look on bbc bite-size? and are you sure your teacher doesn't explain these things , or are you just not listening to him/her ? if he/she is really that bad complain or see your head of department . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 In my mind simplifying fractions doesn't mean converting to 4 and a half (or 4.5), it means reducing a fraction to it's simplest form, as Rowan said. IIRC both are acceptable when i was at school. I'd certainly say 586/3 isn't as simplified as 195 1/3. I think if it was in a test both answers would be correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieran Morrison Posted May 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 take a look on bbc bite-size? and are you sure your teacher doesn't explain these things , or are you just not listening to him/her ? if he/she is really that bad complain or see your head of department . He explains them in the most complicated way possible, not alot of people in my class understand it. And he like embarrasses you infront of the whole class if you ask him And he is head of the department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Writing 2/6 is the same as saying 1/3, and it's also the same as 2000/6000 But 1/3 is the simplest way to write this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trials Punk Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Always ask for a 2/4" spanner, never a 1/2", they don't like that If your stuck, its been said, ask your teacher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieran Morrison Posted May 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 Writing 2/6 is the same as saying 1/3, and it's also the same as 2000/6000 But 1/3 is the simplest way to write this. i know that but i dont understand how numbers like this 567/3 become 1 third when you simplify it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 i know that but i dont understand how numbers like this 567/3 become 1 third when you simplify it? 567/3 is five hundred and sixty seven thirds. You basically have 567 * 1/3. When you simplify it you're looking for common divisors between the numerator and denominator. In this case that's three and as such 567/3 simplifies to 189. If you had 568/3 you have 568 * 1/3. Compared to the last example you have one extra third left over meaning that you could simplify it to 189 and 1/3. It's kinda like dividing with a remainder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 i know that but i dont understand how numbers like this 567/3 become 1 third when you simplify it? 567/3 doesn't become 1 third. It becomes 189. Lets you have a shop that sells cake. you sell the cakes in thirds. You have 67 of those thirds all boxed up individually and are ready to be sold. How many whole cakes do you have? To get the answer you simply divide by 3. You end up with 22.33333... So you have 22 whole cakes, and one third, which can also be written as 22 1/3 (Twenty two and 1 third) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I like cake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Wood Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 He explains them in the most complicated way possible, not alot of people in my class understand it. And he like embarrasses you infront of the whole class if you ask him And he is head of the department. Find a maths teacher you like/get on with and ask them. It doesn't matter if its not your teacher, they can run you through the basics in a spare 10 mins. Do you have any mates/older siblings/parents who understand it a bit better? I know it might be embarassing now, but you'll realise that its better to ask and get a decent maths grade than to try and save face and struggle on. If your teacher tries to embarrass you, ask them what the f**k they think they're doing, and if they want to appear to be a good teacher by having a nice % (thats percentage) of people pass the test, you're gonna need all the help they can give. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simpson Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 586/3 That is the answer in its simpilest form..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dušan Posted May 14, 2011 Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 i have to agree with simpson...... 586/3 its the simpliest form of fraction... its simpler than 1172/6 but you cannot make simpler fraction of 586/3... its like when you have 2/6 you can simple it with 2 because both can be divided with number 2 so you get 1/3 but this can only be divided with 1 what isnt important as you get the same number hope that made sense as iam not english Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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