The top of a fraction (i.e. the number to the left of the "/") is called the numerator.
The bottom (i.e the number to the right of the "/") is called the denominator.
Examples
In the fraction 2/3, 2 is the numerator, 3 is the denominator.
In the fraction 5/7, 5 is the numerator, 7 is the denominator.
In the fraction 11/23, 11 is the numerator, 23 is the denominator.
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Any fraction in which the numerator is smaller than the denominator (such as 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8), can be considered to be a part of a whole.
For example, in the illustration below I have a circle cut into 8 equal pieces.
Each wedge is 1 part of 8 or 1/8.
The entire circle could be expressed by the fraction 8/8.
Similarly, if I have the rectangle shown below cut up into 6 equal pieces, two of the pieces would represent 2/6 of the total rectangle. The entire rectangle would be represented as the fraction 6/6.
Your could also read fractions as an extended division problem. 1/8 could be read as 1 divided by 8. 2/6 would be 2 divided by 6.
Similarly 6/6 would be 6 divided by 6 (which is equal to 1), thus we could write 6/6=1.
8/8 is 8 divided by 8, which is also equal to 1, so 8/8=1.
In fact any number divided by itself equals 1.
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Before going on, let's take a look at a few examples of fractions that you might encounter in everyday life.
Example 1
Have you ever noticed the fuel gauge on an automobile's dashboard?
It is usually broken up into quarters.
So what does it mean if the fuel gage is pointing at the ¾ mark?
Well imagine the gas tank as the circle shown below.
The circle is broken up into four equal pieces, each representing ¼ (or one quarter) of the total gas tank.
Three of the four quarters are shaded red indicating the amount of gas in the tank.
Only one of the four pieces is left in white, indicating that ¼ of the gas was used.
Example 2
What does it mean to say that you traveled 1/8 of a mile?
Well imagine a mile as a line, cut into 8 identical line segments.
One of the line segments is shaded red indicating 1/8 of a mile.
The other seven line segments that make up this line remain in black, indicating that you still have 7/8 of a mile to go before completing the mile.
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Text, images & source code c2003 Martin Selditch.
