How to Multiply and Divide Fractions: A Simple Guide

Multiplying Fractions

• ✖️ To multiply fractions, multiply the numerators together and multiply the denominators together.
• ➗ After multiplying, simplify the resulting fraction by dividing both the numerator and denominator by their greatest common divisor.
• 💡 For example, to multiply 3/5 by 4/9, multiply 34 to get 12 and 59 to get 45, resulting in 12/45. This simplifies to 4/15 after dividing both by 3.

Dividing Fractions

• ➗ To divide fractions, use the "keep, change, flip" method.
• ➡️ Keep the first fraction as it is.
• ➕ Change the division operation to multiplication.
• ↩️ Flip the second fraction (invert it).
• 💡 For example, to divide 5/6 by 2/3, keep 5/6, change division to multiplication, and flip 2/3 to 3/2. This becomes a multiplication problem: 5/6 * 3/2.

Simplifying Results

• 🧮 After performing the "keep, change, flip" for division and then multiplying, simplify the resulting fraction.
• ⚖️ In the division example (5/6 * 3/2), multiplying across gives 15/12. Both 15 and 12 are divisible by 3, simplifying the fraction to 5/4.
• 📈 An improper fraction, where the numerator is greater than the denominator (like 5/4), is a valid result.