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Improper Fractions and Mixed Numbers 13100 Views


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Description:

Meet our gang of fraction friends: proper fractions, improper fractions, and mixed numbers. Learn how to convert improper fractions to and from mixed numbers. Warning: even though some of these numbers may be tiny, they’ve got big personalities.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

Improper Fractions and Mixed Numbers, a la Shmoop.

00:07

Numbers come in all shapes and sizes.

00:09

Some are big...

00:09

...and some are little...

00:10

Some are whole...

00:12

...and others are a bit fractured.

00:14

As far as fractions go, it's a mixed bag.

00:17

Some fractions are proper...

00:21

...some are improper...

00:24

...and then there are those that are just a little mixed up.

00:27

Proper fractions have a numerator that's smaller than the denominator.

00:32

Which means they're always less than 1.

00:34

Proper fractions also donate to charities and volunteer in soup kitchens.

00:38

They know they're not greater than anyone else around them.

00:41

Improper fractions, on the other hand, are a little full of themselves.

00:44

They've got big heads... well, big numerators, anyway.

00:48

In improper fractions, the numerator is bigger than the denominator...

00:51

...which means they're greater than 1.

00:55

Since fractions aren't supposed to be greater than 1, we call these guys improper.

00:59

They're a bit on the rude side.

01:05

But if they get on our nerves...

01:06

... we can change them into mixed numbers.

01:09

Mixed numbers are combinations of whole numbers and fractions...

01:13

... so they may be a bit confused at times.

01:15

Maybe they're going through an identity crisis or something, we don't really know.

01:22

We can change improper fractions into mixed numbers

01:24

by dividing the numerator by the denominator.

01:27

That's what fractions are, right? Division.

01:31

We'll end up with a number and a remainder.

01:37

The number is the whole number in front,

01:39

and the remainder goes in the numerator of the fraction that follows it.

01:45

If we're sick of being mixed up by mixed numbers...

01:47

... we can change them back into improper fractions, too.

01:51

Since we divided to change them, let's multiply to change them back.

01:55

First, we multiply the denominator by the whole number.

01:58

Once we find that product, we add it to the numerator of our mixed number's fraction.

02:03

Then, we put that number all over the original denominator...

02:08

...to get our improper fraction.

02:10

So in the end, mixed numbers and improper fractions

02:12

can express the same number 2 different ways.

02:15

It's up to you to decide which is better: improper... or mixed.

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