if i had 3/4 of abox of cards and used 1/3 what fractional part did i use

Answer 1

3/4 x 1/3 = 1/4

3/4 x 1/3 = (3x1)/(4x3)

You can either multiply it out to get 3/12 then simplify to 1/4

or you can cancel the 3 in the numerator and denominator and

immediately get 1/4

You can also think of the fraction 1/4 as an object, like cards

You start with 3 cards and use 1/3 of them, you used 1/3 of 3 = 1 card

only here 1/4 is a card. You used up 1/4 of the original box

Think of it as 3(1/4) and you use 1(1/4) or 1/4 of the box.

Or just multiply 3/4 x 1/4 mechanically without trying to make more sense of it.

You used 1/3 of 3/4. the "of" in a word problem is similar to multiplication.