3.

Decimals and fractions

Adding and Subtracting Decimals

To add decimals, follow these steps:

Write down the numbers, one under the other, with the decimal
points lined up
Put in zeros so the numbers have the same length
Then add using column addition, remembering to put the
decimal point in the answer

That's all there is to it - just remember to line up the decimals, then add normally.

Subtracting
To subtract, follow the same method: line up the decimals, then subtract .

Do these operations:
a) 3,7 + 0,25 + 18 =

b) 45,8 + 3,002 + 0,9 =

c) 30,01 - 7,35 =

d) 12,403 + 45 + 6,28 =

e) 72,084 - 36,9 =

f) 100 - 64,08 =

g) 8,29 + 0,44 + 3,14 =

h) 12,99 - 11,888 =

i) 74,001 - 68 =

Multiplying Decimals

How to Multiply Decimals

Just follow these steps:

Multiply normally, ignoring the decimal points.

Then put the decimal point in the answer - it will have as many decimal
places as the two original numbers combined.

In other words, just count up how many numbers are after the decimal point
in both numbers you are multiplying, then the answer should have that many
numbers after its decimal point.

Do these operations:
a) 36,04 0,32 =

b) 3,72 2,06 =

c) 4,99 0 113 =

d) 0,342 0,85 =

e) 6,75 141 =

f) 5,25 0 75 =

g) 0,25 0,001 =

h) 0,0038 3,025 =

i) 0,67 0 61 =

Dividing Decimals
Dividing a Decimal Number by a Whole Number
To divide a decimal number by a whole number:

Use Division ignoring the decimal point

Then put the decimal point in the same spot as the dividend
Example:

The answer is

1,3

Dividing by a Decimal Number

But what if you want to divide by a Decimal Number?
The trick is to convert the number you are dividing by to a whole number first,
by shifting the decimal point of both numbers to the right:

Now you are dividing by a whole number, and can continue as

normal.
It is safe to do this if you remember to shift the decimal point of both

1 Solve these operations:

a) 23,754 : 0,37 =

b) 3,215144 : 5,42 =

c) 27,792 : 0,36 =

d) 37,24 : 7,6 =

e) 1,5408 : 42,8 =

f) 120 : 0,054 =

g) 0,2208 : 0,0069 =

h) 3 000,5 : 28 =

i) 23,875 : 57 =

2 Work out these divisions:

a) 96 : 100 =

b) 96 : 1 000 =

c) 96 : 10 =

g) 55,1 : 100 =

d) 73,45 : 1 000 =

h) 55,1 : 10 000 =

e) 73,45 : 10 =

i) 55,1 : 1 000 =

f) 73 45 : 10 000 =

j) 235 : 100 =

3 Looking at the results, try to do the following divisions:

112 : 4 = 28

285 : 6 = 47,5

a) 112 : 40 =
:0,009 =
b) 112 : 400 =

3,6 : 0,9 = 4

d) 285 : 60 =
e) 285 : 600 =

c) 112 : 4 000 =
: 90 =

f) 285 : 6 000 =

Combined operations with decimal numbers.

Remember the order of operations

a. (-0,7) (-7,4) [(-19,5) - (-13,5)]

b. (-4,1) (-3,6) - (18,3 + 2,7)

c. 9,2 8,8 - (15,4 - 14)

d. 4,7(-6,3) - (-5,7) 11,2

e. 12,9 - 7,1 + (-2,2) 15,5

f. (-8,2) (-4) + 15,5 + (-13,1)

g. (-18) + (-11,2) + 15,7 - (-11)

g)3,6
h) 3,6 : 9 =
i) 3,6

h. 8,6 (-6,2) [(-16,4) - (-16,9)]

i. (-12,9) + (-1,8) - [2,9 - (-13,3)]

Fractions
A fraction is a part of a whole
Slice a pizza, and you will have fractions:

/2

(One-Half)

/4

(One-Quarter)

/8

(Three-Eighths)

The top number tells how many slices you have

The bottom number tells how many slices the pizza
was cut into.
Numerator / Denominator
We call the top number the Numerator, it is the number of parts you
have.
We call the bottom number the Denominator, it is the number of
parts the whole is divided into.
Numerator
Denominator

Fractions of a quantity

How do we find

/5

Method 1 is to find
1

/5

/5

/5

/5

of 20, so we multiply 4 by 3.

of 20 = 4 3 = 12.

Method 2 is to multiply
3

/5

of 20, then multiply by 3.

of 20 is 20 5 = 4.

We need
3

of 20?

20 =

/5

(3 20 ) : 5 =

by 20
60 : 5 = 12

Find out:
1
a of 12
3

2
of 12
3

1
b of 18
6

5
of 18
6

1
c of 40
8

5
of 40
8

2 And now:
2
a of 15
5

3
b of 21
7

4
e of 30
5

3
g of 48
4

3
k of 715
5

3
i of 85
5

Convert Decimals to Fractions

To convert a Decimal to a Fraction follow these steps:
Step 1: Write down the decimal divided by 1, like this:

decimal

/1

Step 2: Multiply both top and bottom by 10 for every number after
the decimal point. (For example, if there are two numbers after the
decimal point, then use 100, if there are three then use 1000, etc.)
Step 3: Simplify (or reduce) the fraction
Example: Express 0,75 as a fraction
Step 1: Write down 0,75 divided by 1:
0,7
5

1
Step 2: Multiply both top and bottom by 100 (there were 2 digits
after the decimal point so that is 1010=100):
100

0,75

75
=

100

100
Step 3: Simplify the fraction (this took me two steps):

75

15
=

100

3
=

20

Express as a fraction:
a) 0.85

b) 0,25

c) 1,2

d) 2,4

e) 12,5

f) 21,6

g) 3,6

h) 24,2

i) 50,2

To convert a Fraction to a Decimal, follow these

steps:
Just divide the numerator into the denominator and get some
decimals.
Example:

is 3 divided into 4

Express in decimal:

/5 =

/4 =

/2 =

/8 =

/5 =

/4 =

/6 =

/12 =

/8 =

Equivalent Fractions
Equivalent Fractions have the same value, even though they may
look different.
These fractions are really the same:
1
2
=
2
4

4
=
8

Why are they the same? Because when you multiply or

divide both the top and bottom by the same number, the fraction
keeps its value.
1

/2

/4

/8

Simplifying Fractions
To simplify a fraction, divide the top and bottom by the highest
number that
can divide into both numbers exactly.
The way to simplify a fraction is dividing both the top and bottom of
the fraction until you can't go any further (try dividing by 2,3,5,7,...
etc).

Example: Simplify the fraction

2

24

/108

24

12
=

108

6
=

54

2
=

27

Simplify

Adding and

Subtracting Fractions

There are 3 Simple Steps to add fractions:

Step 1: Make sure the bottom numbers (the denominators) are the same
Step 2: Add or subtract the top numbers (the numerators), put the answer over
the denominator

Step 3: Simplify the fraction (if needed)

Example 1:
1

1
+

Step 1. The bottom numbers (the denominators) are already the same. Go straight
to step 2.
Step 2. Add the top numbers and put the answer over the same denominator:
1

1+1

+
4

Step 3. Simplify the fraction:

2

1
=

In picture form it looks like this:

/4

/4

/4

/2

Example 2:
1

/2

/6

Step 1. The bottom numbers are different. See how the slices are different sizes?
We need to make them the same before we can continue, because
we can't subtract them like this:
1

/2

/6

To make the bottom numbers the same, multiply the top and bottom of the first
1

fraction (

/2) by3 like this:

3

3
=

And now our question looks like this:

3

/6

/6

The bottom numbers (the denominators) are the same, so we can go to step 2.

Step 2. Subtract the top numbers and put the answer over the same denominator:
3

31

2
=

In picture form it looks like this:

/6

/6

/6

Step 3. Simplify the fraction:

2

1
=

Add:

Subtract:

Multiplying Fractions

There are3 simple steps multiply fractions

1. Multiply thetop numbers(thenumerators).

2. Multiply the bottom numbers(the denominators).

3.the fractionif needed .

Example:
1

Step 1. Multiply the top numbers:

1

12
=

2
=

Step 2. Multiply the bottom numbers:

1

12
=

2
=

25

10

Step 3. Simplify the fraction :

2

1
=

10

Dividing Fractions
Step 1. Multiply crossing the numbers (numerator x denominator, and
denominator x numerator)

Step 3. Simplify the fraction (if needed)

Example:
1

1
:

16
=

6
=

21

6
=
2

Now you:

Calculate:

And now:

Solve these operations:

Calculate:

Work out and simplify:

Multiply and reduce:

Calculate and reduce:

Divide and simplify:

Work out:

Work out:

Calculate:

WORD PROBLEMS
1. A group of people were standing in line. 3/8 of the people were
boys and 1/4 of the people were girls. How much of the group
was made up of boys and girls? How much of the group was not
boys or girls?

2. Jane and Jerry were counting the months until their birthdays.
Jane said 3/4 of the year would pass before it was her birthday.
Jerry said he only needed to wait 1/3 of the year. How much
longer did Jane have to wait than Jerry?

3. Bill ran around 2/3 of the track. Josh ran around 5/6 of the track.
How much farther did Josh run than Bill?

4. A box of paper clips fell on the floor. Betty picked up 2/5 of the
paper clips and Joanne picked up 3/10. How many of the paper
clips did they pick up altogether? How many were still on the
floor?

5. Theres a bag with 24 balls, the white balls are 1/4 of them. How
many white balls must I add to get the white balls the half of
the total?

6. A car has been around 26 minutes. In this time it has traveled

2/3 of its way. How long will it take to cover all the way, going
always at the same speed?

7. A ball hitting the floor bounces to 3/8 of the height that it is

dropped. If it is dropped from 1024 cm, how high will it get after
the third bounce?

8. In a forest of pine trees they felled its 3/5, shortly after there
was a fire, in which 5/7 of the remaining pine burned. How
many pines survived?

9. The family of Oscar spends one third of his budget on housing

and one fifth in supply. What fraction of budget is left for other
expenses? His monthly income is 2235 Euros. How much will
they pay for the housing?

10.

A cyclist has to travel 18 km from a town to another one.

If he has travelled 2/3 of the total, how many km are left yet?

11.

Every step of Eva measures about 3/5 of meter. How

many steps are there in six km?

12.

A company wants to bottle 60 liters of orange juice, if

each bottle has a capacity of 2/3 of liter, how many bottles do

they need?

13.

The relationship between the width and height of a

traditional screen is 4/3. Calculate what measure is high one

screen whose width is 112 cm.

14.

There are 24 hours in a day and scientists tell us that we

should sleep for 3/8 of the day. How much time should we spend
sleeping?

15.

The National History Museum has collected 125 dinosaurs.

George has collected 3/5 of this amount. How many dinosaurs

has George collected?

16.

Mr Murrin is 160cm tall and his brother Tom is 7/8 as tall

as him. How tall is Tom?

17.

The weather forecaster says that it is 200 C in London but

only 7/10 as hot in New York. How hot is it in New York?

18.

Skateboards cost 36 each in my local store. The

shopkeeper says if I buy one I can buy another for only 7/9 of
the normal price. How much would a second skateboard cost?

19.

Billy collected 256 conkers but lost of them on his way

to school through a hole in his bag. When he arrived at school

how many conkers did Billy have left?

20.
There are 25 pupils in the class, 3/5 of the pupils support
Chelsea and the remainder support Arsenal. How many pupils
support Arsenal?

21.
The local shop normally sells Mars bars for 40 pence. The
shopkeeper says I can buy them for 1/4 less than the normal
price. How much can I buy a Mars bar for