What are fractions?

A fraction is a part of a whole. So, for example, think about a pie. As a whole, there is 1 pie. But if you cut that pie in half, there are 2 halves, therefore out of the 1 pie, there are 2 pieces. So you would have a half, 1/2, of the pie. If you cut that pie into 4 pieces, out of that 1 pie, there are now 4 pieces, so one of those pieces would be 1/4 of that pie. And this goes on and on. But fractions are just a part of a whole number.

Part of a whole.

• the top number (the numerator) says how many parts we have.

• the bottom number (the denominator) says how many parts the whole is divided into