Fractions | IT

Question 8

Did you notice something common between the fractions that are greater than 1?

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Solution

A fraction tells us how many parts we have out of a whole thing.

Step 1 — Understanding fractions and '1'

Let us think of a chocolate bar. If we divide a chocolate bar into 4 equal pieces, each piece is 14\frac{1}{4} of the bar. The number on top is the numerator. It tells us how many pieces we have. The number at the bottom is the denominator. It tells us how many equal pieces the whole bar was cut into.

If we have all 4 pieces from a bar cut into 4 pieces, we have 44\frac{4}{4} of the bar. This means we have one whole chocolate bar. So, 44=1\frac{4}{4} = 1. Any fraction where the numerator and denominator are the same is equal to 1.

Diagram 1

Step 2 — What 'greater than 1' means

A fraction is 'greater than 1' if it represents more than one whole thing. Imagine you have more than one whole chocolate bar. For example, if you have one whole chocolate bar and then one more piece from another similar bar. This would be more than 1 whole bar.

Step 3 — Looking at examples of fractions

Let us look at some fractions and compare them to 1.

Consider 34\frac{3}{4}. We have 3 pieces from a bar cut into 4 pieces. This is less than 1 whole chocolate bar. Here, the numerator (3) is smaller than the denominator (4).

Consider 44\frac{4}{4}. We have 4 pieces from a bar cut into 4 pieces. This is exactly 1 whole chocolate bar. Here, the numerator (4) is equal to the denominator (4).

Now consider 54\frac{5}{4}. We have 5 pieces from chocolate bars cut into 4 pieces each. This means we have one whole chocolate bar (44\frac{4}{4}) and one more piece (14\frac{1}{4}). So, 54\frac{5}{4} is more than 1 whole chocolate bar. Here, the numerator (5) is larger than the denominator (4).

Let us try another example. Consider 73\frac{7}{3}. We have 7 pieces from chocolate bars cut into 3 pieces each. This means we have two whole chocolate bars (33+33=63\frac{3}{3} + \frac{3}{3} = \frac{6}{3}) and one more piece (13\frac{1}{3}). So, 73\frac{7}{3} is more than 1 whole chocolate bar. It is actually more than 2 whole bars. Here, the numerator (7) is larger than the denominator (3).

Diagram 2

Step 4 — Finding the common pattern

We saw that: For 34\frac{3}{4} (less than 1), the numerator (3) is smaller than the denominator (4). For 44\frac{4}{4} (equal to 1), the numerator (4) is equal to the denominator (4). For 54\frac{5}{4} (greater than 1), the numerator (5) is larger than the denominator (4). For 73\frac{7}{3} (greater than 1), the numerator (7) is larger than the denominator (3).

We can see a clear pattern from these examples. When a fraction is greater than 1, its top number (numerator) is always bigger than its bottom number (denominator).

Answer

The fractions greater than 1 have numerator always greater than denominator.

More questions in IT

Q1

Arrange these fraction words in order of size from the smallest to the biggest in the empty box below:

One and a half, three quarters, one and a quarter, half, quarter, two and a half.

Q2

By dividing the whole chikki into 6 equal parts in different ways, we get 1/6 chikki pieces of different shapes. Are they of the same size?

Q3

Do it once more! Fill in the blank boxes.

Q4

Now, can you find the lengths of the various blue lines shown below? Fill in the boxes as well.

  1. Here, the fractional unit is dividing a length of 1 unit into three equal parts. Write the fraction that gives the length of the blue line in the box or in your notebook.
Q5

Here, a unit is divided into 5 equal parts. Write the fraction that gives the length of the blue lines in the respective boxes or in your notebook.

Q6

Now, a unit is divided into 8 equal parts. Write the appropriate fractions in your notebook.

Q7

Write down all the fractions you marked on the number line earlier.

Now, let us classify these in two groups:

Q8

Did you notice something common between the fractions that are greater than 1?

Q9

What do you observe?

  • Are the lengths 12\frac{1}{2} and 24\frac{2}{4} equal?
  • Are the lengths 24\frac{2}{4} and 48\frac{4}{8} equal?
Q10

Now, check whether 13\frac{1}{3} and 26\frac{2}{6} are equivalent fractions or not, using paper strips.

Q11

Answer the following questions after looking at the fraction wall:

Are the lengths 12\frac{1}{2} and 36\frac{3}{6} equal?

Q12

Answer the following questions after looking at the fraction wall:

Are 23\frac{2}{3} and 46\frac{4}{6} equivalent fractions? Why?

Q13

Answer the following questions after looking at the fraction wall:

How many pieces of length 16\frac{1}{6} will make a length of 12\frac{1}{2}?

Q14

Answer the following questions after looking at the fraction wall:

How many pieces of length 16\frac{1}{6} will make a length of 13\frac{1}{3}?

Q15

Context: Anil was in a group where 2 cakes were divided equally among 5 children.

Q. Now, if there are 10 children in my group, how many cakes will I need so that they get same amount of cake as Anil?

Q16

Q. What if we put two such groups together? One group where 2 cakes are divided equally between 5 children, and another group again with 4 cakes and 10 children.

Q17

Find some more fractions equivalent to 12\frac{1}{2}. Write them in the boxes here:

Q18

Equally divide the rotis in the situations shown below and write down the share of each child. Are the shares in each of these cases the same? Why?

Q19

Suppose the number of children is kept the same, but the number of units that are being shared is increased? What can you say about each child's share now? Why? Discuss how your reasoning explains 15<25\frac{1}{5} < \frac{2}{5}, 37<47\frac{3}{7} < \frac{4}{7}, and 12<58\frac{1}{2} < \frac{5}{8}.

Q20

Now, decide in which of the two groups will each child get a larger share:

  1. Group 1: 3 glasses of sugarcane juice divided equally among 4 children. Group 2: 7 glasses of sugarcane juice divided equally among 10 children.
  2. Group 1: 4 glasses of sugarcane juice divided equally among 7 children. Group 2: 5 glasses of sugarcane juice divided equally among 7 children.

Which groups were easier to compare? Why?

Q21

Find equivalent fractions for the given pairs of fractions such that the fractional units are the same.

a. 72\frac{7}{2} and 35\frac{3}{5}

b. 83\frac{8}{3} and 56\frac{5}{6}

c. 34\frac{3}{4} and 35\frac{3}{5}

d. 67\frac{6}{7} and 85\frac{8}{5}

e. 94\frac{9}{4} and 52\frac{5}{2}

f. 110\frac{1}{10} and 29\frac{2}{9}

g. 83\frac{8}{3} and 114\frac{11}{4}

h. 136\frac{13}{6} and 19\frac{1}{9}

Q22

Context: Meena's father made some chikki. Meena ate 12\frac{1}{2} of it and her younger brother ate 14\frac{1}{4} of it.

Q. How much of the total chikki is remaining?

Q23

Try adding 47+67\frac{4}{7} + \frac{6}{7} using a number line. Do you get the same answer?

Q24

Try doing this same exercise using the number line.

Q25

Puzzle!

  1. Can you find three different fractional units that add up to 1?

    It turns out there is only one solution to this problem (up to changing the order of the 3 fractions)! Can you find it? Try to find it before reading further.

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