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Top-Heavy Fractions and Mixed Numbers
Top-Heavy Fractions and Mixed Numbers
When the fraction is top-heavy (when the numerator is larger than the denominator), you can express it as a mixed number.
Here we have three halves of cake. How would you write this as a fraction?
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/IESURzqGS4KMVDOgwo9J.png)
Here we have three halves or 23 of cake.
This is a top heavy fraction.
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/IESURzqGS4KMVDOgwo9J.png)
We can see that 23 of cake is more than one whole cake. What is an alternative way of writing 23?
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/IESURzqGS4KMVDOgwo9J.png)
What do you think we call numbers like 121?
Each of these pizzas was divided into five slices. How many slices are left?
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/zH1MKnYtQCWplIXnXj6h.png)
We know we have more than one pizza so we can expect a top heavy fraction. How do we write the eight slices as a top heavy fraction?
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/zH1MKnYtQCWplIXnXj6h.png)
We have 58 of pizza, but how would you write it as a mixed number?
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/zH1MKnYtQCWplIXnXj6h.png)
So there are 58 pizzas here which we can also write as 153.
But how did we get from 58 to 153?
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/zH1MKnYtQCWplIXnXj6h.png)
The whole pizza is divided into five slices and all five are still on the plate. How do we write this part as a fraction?
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/zH1MKnYtQCWplIXnXj6h.png)
So we've taken 55 and replaced it with 1.
We started with 58, after taking five away there are three left and that's how we get 153.
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/zH1MKnYtQCWplIXnXj6h.png)
Try this one. The amount of cake as a top heavy fraction is 35. How would you write it as a mixed number?
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/SNoJb6yrQ1m85ZIOIb4n.png)
How would you write 47 as a mixed number?
Try another one: what is 29 as a mixed number?
We have converted top heavy fractions to mixed numbers.
This time we will go the other way and convert a mixed number into a top heavy fraction.
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/wmAwWHQnQxuz2upTpqke.png)
Looking at the image we can see we have two whole pizzas and a fraction of a pizza. What is this as a mixed number?
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/wmAwWHQnQxuz2upTpqke.png)
Our mixed number is 252 .To convert into a top heavy fraction, we need to know how many slices there are in the two whole pizzas. Write this as a top heavy fraction.
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/wmAwWHQnQxuz2upTpqke.png)
We have seen that we can replace our two whole pizzas or the 2 with510
We add the 510 to the 52 to give a total of 512.
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/wmAwWHQnQxuz2upTpqke.png)
We started with a mixed number 252 and found out how many slices are in the two whole pizzas.
This gave us the answer that 252=512.
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/wmAwWHQnQxuz2upTpqke.png)
How do you write the mixed number 332 as a top heavy fraction?
Summary! Fractions can be top heavy
That means the numerator is bigger than the denominator, for example 67
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/vRzVi6fQRLehAjEiqapK.png)
Top heavy fractions and mixed numbers are greater than 1
For example, 66 is the same as 1, so 67 has a whole and an "extra" sixth.
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/vRzVi6fQRLehAjEiqapK.png)
You can turn top heavy fractions into mixed numbers
For example, 67 is the same as the mixed number 161.
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/vRzVi6fQRLehAjEiqapK.png)
We can turn mixed numbers into top heavy fractions.
For example, 252 is the same as the top heavy fraction 512.
![](https://cdn.hejalbert.se/teen/blocks-images/en_GB/wmAwWHQnQxuz2upTpqke.png)