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MULTIPLICATION OF FRACTIONS


Multiplying a Fraction by a Whole Number

Ex.: Five boys each ate 1/3 of a pizza. How many pizzas were eaten?

Using fraction circles marked off in thirds, the problem can be visualized,		 pizza image


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or, you can repeatedly add the fractions five times.

1 third + 1 third + 1 third + 1 third + 1 third = 5 thirds or 5/3 , so 1/3 x 5 = 5/3 .


Another example:

3 2/3 x 3

The first factor is shown by the number of circles in each row, 3 2/3 . The second factor is shown by the number of rows, 3.


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