Lesson History of mathematics

Lesson 10 :Types of Fractions 

 

A fraction represents a part of the whole. In a fraction, the top number is 

the numerator and the bottom number is the denominator. 

  

For instance: 

Kobe has chocolate with 5 bars. If he ate 3 bars of it, then the fraction of the 

chocolate he ate would be 

 

Hence, the numerator and the denominator of a fraction inform us about how many 

parts of the whole there are. The denominator will inform us about the number of 

equal parts the whole is divided into and the numerator will inform us how many 

out of the total parts we need to shade. 

This leaves us with 2 different cases: 

  

Case 1- When the fraction is less than a whole 

 

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The fractions which are less than a whole are called proper fractions. 

  

Case 2-  When the fraction is more than a whole 

 

  

There are two different ways to write a fraction which is more than a whole: 

1. Improper Fraction 

 

  

2. Mixed Fraction 

 

  

Example 1: What is the fraction of the shaded part in the given square? 

 

 

 

 

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There are 4 parts in the square and 1 part is shaded. The fraction of the shaded part 

is 

1

⁄

4 

.