Multiplication about Fractions

Question

What is 5/2 multiplied by 1/2? And if you get an answer will that fraction be greater or less than 1/2?

Answer 1

Let's take this question in two parts:

1. Multiply the fractions 5/2 and 1/2.

To multiply fractions, we take the first numerator and multiply it by the second numerator:

5 x 1 = 5

5 is our new numerator.

Then, we take the first denominator and multiply it by the second denominator:

2 x 2 = 4

4 is our new denominator.

When we put the new numerator over the new denominator, we get 5/4.

1. Compare your answer, 5/4, to 1/2.

To determine if 5/4 is greater than 1/2, we need to make the denominators of each fraction the same. In this case, it is easy to multiply 1/2 by 2/2 to get 2/4. We know now that 5/4 is greater than 2/4, so therefore it is also greater than 1/2.