Addition Of Fractions With Common Denominators basic Mathematics quiz
Adding fractions with common denominator for kids
Adding fractions can seem tricky at first, but it’s actually pretty simple once you understand the basic concept. When adding fractions, it’s important to make sure that the fractions have the same denominator (the bottom number). If the denominators are different, you’ll need to find a common denominator before you can add the fractions.
For example, let’s say you want to add the fractions 2/3 and 1/3. The denominators are already the same, so you can add the fractions directly. To add the fractions, you simply add the numerators (the top numbers) and keep the denominator the same. So, in this case:
(2/3) + (1/3) = (2 + 1)/3 = 3/3
Because both fractions have the same denominator (3), we can simply add their numerators to find the numerator of the answer.
3/3 is a special case because 3/3 is the same as 1. If a numerator is equal to the denominator, it will be the same as 1.
It’s worth mentioning that when you are adding fractions with common denominators, it does not matter if the fractions are simplified or not, because the denominator is common for both and the numerator just needs to be added up.
For example:
- (5/12) + (3/12) = 8/12 = 2/3
- (6/8) + (4/8) = 10/8 = 5/4
When adding fractions with common denominators, it is also important to simplify the final answer by dividing the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor (GCF). The GCF is the largest number that divides into both the numerator and denominator without leaving a remainder.
For example, when adding fractions (12/15) + (8/15), you get 20/15, if you divide both 20 and 15 by their GCF 5, you get the simplified fraction 4/3.
It’s also worth noting that adding fractions can also be done by converting the fractions to equivalent fractions, this method can be helpful if the denominators of the fractions are large and hard to work with. The concept is that instead of changing the denominator to a common denominator, you change the numerator of one of the fractions in such a way that the denominator remains the same, but the value of the fraction is the same as the other.
For example,
- (1/4) + (1/8) = (1/4) + (2/8) = (3/8)
- (3/5) + (4/10) = (3/5) + (8/20) = (11/20)
In conclusion, Adding fractions is a simple process when the denominators are the same, just add the numerators, and keep the denominator the same. In case the denominators are different, you need to find a common denominator by multiplying the numerator and denominator of each fraction by different numbers or by finding the least common multiple (LCM) of the denominators. And it’s important to remember that the final result should be simplified by dividing the numerator and denominator by their GCF. If the denominators are large you can use equivalent fractions method to add the fractions and keep the denominators the same.