Ads
related to: common denominator in a sentence examples worksheets
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
It is usually easiest to add, subtract, or compare fractions when each is expressed with the same denominator, called a "common denominator". For example, the numerators of fractions with common denominators can simply be added, such that + = and that <, since each fraction has the common denominator 12.
A common, vulgar, or simple fraction (examples: and ) consists of an integer numerator, displayed above a line (or before a slash like 1 ⁄ 2), and a non-zero integer denominator, displayed below (or after) that line. If these integers are positive, then the numerator represents a number of equal parts, and the denominator indicates how many ...
For example, 10 is a multiple of 5 because 5 × 2 = 10, so 10 is divisible by 5 and 2. Because 10 is the smallest positive integer that is divisible by both 5 and 2, it is the least common multiple of 5 and 2. By the same principle, 10 is the least common multiple of −5 and −2 as well.
Addition of fractions is much simpler when the denominators are the same; in this case, one can simply add the numerators while leaving the denominator the same: + = +, so + = + =. [ 63 ] The commutativity and associativity of rational addition is an easy consequence of the laws of integer arithmetic. [ 64 ]
The big hint here is the use of the verb "reduce": one reduces fractions to a lowest common denominator, whereas one would *find* or *calculate* the lowest common denominator of a set of integers. I would have thought it obvious that in this metaphorical use, people are being compared to fractions and by "reducing us to the lowest common ...
It is sometimes called the freshman sum, as it is a common mistake in the early stages of learning about addition of fractions. Technically, this is a binary operation on valid fractions (nonzero denominator), considered as ordered pairs of appropriate integers, a priori disregarding the perspective on rational numbers as equivalence classes of ...