Page 73 - Mathematics Coursebook

7.1 Simplifying fractions
7 Fractions

!e word ‘fraction’ originally comes from the Latin word fractio Key words
Key words
which means ‘breaking into pieces’. !is makes sense as when you

break something up into smaller parts you have fractions of it! Make sure you learn and
From as early as 1800 BC, the Egyptians were writing fractions. understand these key words:

!ey used pictures, called hieroglyphs, to write words and numbers. numerator
Here are the hieroglyphs they used for some numbers. denominator
equivalent fraction

1 2 3 4 5 10 100 1000 simplify
common factor
cancel
simplest form
lowest terms
highest common factor

!e Egyptians wrote all their fractions with a numerator (number terminating
at the top) of 1. To show they were writing a fraction they drew a recurring
mouth picture, which meant ‘part’, above the number. proper fraction
improper fraction
1
So, meant and meant 1 . top-heavy fraction
5 100
mixed number
divisor
dividend
Can you use Egyptian hieroglyphs to write the fraction shaded in remainder
each of these diagrams?

You see fractions all the time in everyday life, from signs showing distances, to posters in shops and
recipes in cookery books.

Ingredients
3
Nolton 2 / 4 miles 250 g butter
Sale
1 / 4 off all prices in 500 g flour
store! 1 / 2 tsp salt
1
2 / 2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs

In this unit you will learn more about using and calculating with fractions.

72 7 F ractions
7 Fractions