Page 193 - Ganit Kaushal

0 1 1 1

2 2
Let us fold the strip again into two equal parts, and mark the creases with line segments. You will now get four
equal parts, as shown in the figure below. Measurement is also explained in the figure below.

0 1 1 2 3 4 = 1
4 4 4 4 4
1 2
2 times =
4 4
1 3
3 times =
4 4
1 4
4 times =
4 4

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
We can repeat the process to obtain eight equal parts of the paper strip as shown above. We can mark the length
of each part as shown in the figure.

Unit Fractions on the Number Line

We know how to represent whole numbers such as 0, 1, 2, 3, … on a number line. To represent a unit fraction
 1
  on the number line, we need to divide the line segment between 0 and 1 into ‘n’ equal parts, where ‘n’

n 
represents the denominator of the fraction.
1
| To represent on the number line, we divide the gap
2 0 1 1 = 2
between 0 and 1 into two equal parts and mark the midpoint 2 2
1
as (see adjoining figure). 0 1 2 1 = 3
2 1 3 3 3
| To represent on the number line, we need to divide
3 0 1 2 3 4 1 = 5
the gap between 0 and 1 into 3 equal parts, where the first 5 5 5 5 5
point, as shown in the adjoining figure, represents the unit
1 2 Note
fraction and the second point represents . Similarly,
3 3 0 5
1 2 3 4
we can represent , , , on a number line, as shown 5 = 0 and 5 = 1.
in the figure. 5 5 5 5

Equivalent Fractions

Two or more fractions are said to be equivalent fractions if they represent the same part (or share) of a whole.
We have used paper strips earlier to represent fractional units.

Fractions 191