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What is a fraction?

A fraction tells you how many parts of a whole you have. Fractions are shown by having one number on top of another, for example:

One quarter as a fraction

There are two parts to a fraction:

  • The number on top, called the numerator, shows how many parts you have (1 in this example, making it a unit fraction).
  • The number on the bottom, called the denominator, shows how many parts something has been divided equally into (4 in this example).
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What is a quarter?

Pizza cut into quarters.

A quarter or \( \frac{1}{4} \) means '1 part of something that has been divided into 4 equal parts'.

If you add four quarters together you get one whole.

\( \frac{1}{4} \) + \( \frac{1}{4} \) + \( \frac{1}{4} \) + \( \frac{1}{4} \) = 1

Top tip

Top tip

Remember when a whole is divided into quarters, they must be equal.

Top tip
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Finding a quarter of an amount

When finding a quarter of an amount, it is the same as dividing by 4.

Instead of drawing an array for larger numbers, you can use your 4 times table facts to help you instead.

Another way is to find half and then half again. A quarter is half of a half.

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Example 1

A girl thinking

What is quarter of 32?

How many 4s are in 32?

32 Ă· 4 = 8

We can double check the answer with the halving method.

\( \frac{1}{2} \) of 32 is 16

\( \frac{1}{2} \) of 16 is 8

You get the same answer: 8.

A girl thinking
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Example 2

What is \( \frac{1}{4} \) of 68?

68 is not in the 4 times table, but you can still easily divide using Base 10:

We need to share the 68 into 4 equal groups.

The 8 ones can be split into 4 groups easily, but the tens are more complicated.

4 tens can be split easily - one in each part. But the two remaining tens will have to become 20 ones so they can be shared equally - 5 ones in each group.

20 Ă· 4 = 5

Now you can split 68 into 4 equal parts:

You have the answer: 17.

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Example 3

Billy has \( \frac{1}{4} \) of 48 sweets. Hassan has \( \frac{1}{2} \) of 24. Who has the most sweets?

First, work out the amount of sweets both boys have.

Billy has \( \frac{1}{4} \) of 48.

48 Ă· 4 = 12

Hassan has \( \frac{1}{2} \) of 24.

24 Ă· 2 = 12

So both boys have the same number of sweets.

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Activity

Quiz

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More on Fractions

Find out more by working through a topic