Monday 9 March 2009

Lowest common denominators

If you have a fraction and you multiply the top and bottom by the same number then you still have the same number. 1/2 is the same as 2/4. You know this from your pieces of cake. Cut the quarter in half again and you have 4/8. It's all the same piece of cake but just in smaller pieces.

Instead of pieces of cake, just think of parts (fractions) of anything. You can progress this idea of what else a fraction might be. You know that 1/4 is the same as 2/8 and 3/12 and 4/ 16 and 5/20. All I have done is multiplied by 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 the top and bottom numbers. I prefer to call them numerators and denominators because life has so many top and bottom things but I know that I am dealing with fractions when I hear numerators and denominators.

If you have to add 1/4 + 1/5 you have to find the lowest common denominator. This means that you will have size of pieces of the cake that you can add to each other. 1/4 is 2/8, 3/12, 4/16 and 5/20. 1/5 is the same as 2/10, 3/15 and 4/20. I hope that you can now see how to add 1/4 and 1/5. It is the same as adding 5/20 and 4/20 which is 9/20. 20 is a denominator for 4 and for 5. Another common denominator is 40 but 20 is the lowest, and it makes more sense to use the smallest number because we are able to make more sense of it. Which would you prefer, 1/4 of a cake or 26/104. Keep the maths as simple as you can.

That sums it up.

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