YOU ARE LEARNING:
Multiplying Fractions
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Multiplying Fractions
You can multiply fractions following a particular rule.
How much of this pizza is left? Give your answer as a fraction.
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If you wanted to split the left-over pizza evenly between two people they would each get _______ of the remaining pizza.
A) half B) a third C) all
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So two people split the left-over pizza so they each get half of the remaining pizza
You can express that with fractions like this 32×21
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How much of the original whole pizza does each of the two people get? Give your answer as a fraction.
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Each of the two people will get 31 of the original pizza
So 32×21=31
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What if you didn't want to split the remaining 32 between 2 people?
What if you wanted to split it between 3 people?
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When you split between 2 people, you multiplied by 21. If you split between 3 people, you multiply by...
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In order to split the left-over pizza evenly, you can split up each of the slices into thirds
This is the same as if the pizza had originally been divided into 9 slices.
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How many slices are left of this pizza now after it has been divided into 9ths?
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There are 6 remaining slices and 3 people - if each person gets the same number of slices, how many slices does each person get?
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So each of the 3 people get 2 out of the 9 slices in the original pizza. How do you write that as a fraction?
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So!
32×31=92
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Now, look only at the maths in this example
How did you actually get from 32×31 to 92?
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You got to the denominator 9 by ______________ the denominators in the other fractions.
A) adding B) multiplying
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You also got to the numerator 2 in the result by ______________ the numerators in the other fractions.
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So you multiply two fractions by multiplying the numerators and the denominators. How do you write that in a generalised form?
A) ca×db=c+da+b B) ca×db=c×da×b
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So you multiply two fractions like this
ca×db=c×da×b
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What is 54×32? Give your answer as a fraction.
What is 63×34? Give your answer as a fully simplified fraction.
Sometimes you end up having to multiply numbers that aren't super easy to multiply
For example, here you are meant to multiply 21 and 25
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There is a trick!
If you can find a number that both the numerator of one fraction and the denominator of the other fraction can be divided by, you can make the problem easier.
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What is the highest number that both 10 and 25 can be divided by (their highest common factor)?
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So you can now simplify by dividing that numerator and that denominator by 5
2110÷5×25÷57=212×57
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What is the highest common factor between 7 and 21?
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So you can now simplify further by dividing that numerator and that denominator by 7
21÷72×57÷7=32×51
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So now you have simplified 2110×257 to 32×51. What is the result as a fraction?
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It would also be good to simplify this problem
You need to find the highest common factor between the numerator of one fraction and the denominator of the other fraction.
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What is the highest common factor between 14 and 35?
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What is the highest common factor between 18 and 12?
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So now you have simplified 1814×3512 to 32×52. What is the result as a fraction?
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So you could simplify 1814×3512 to 32×52
That made it easier to work out that 1814×3512=154
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Simplify 2416×324 and give your answer as a fully simplified fraction.
Summary! You can multiply a fraction with another fraction
You multiply the numerators in the two fractions and then the denominators.
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If the multiplication is complicated, you can try to simplify the problem
You find the highest common factor between the numerator in one fraction and the denominator in the other fraction.
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