Rational Numbers Booklet 1

Complete the exercises in this booklet on separate pieces of paper.

Name: ______________________

Decorate this page if you wish with pictures of Numerator Ned,

Denominator Diane, Fraction Fred, and Rational Rosie

You may also decorate it with random fractional/rational pictures, etc.

 1. Numerators and Denominators

When you work with fractions, you need to know a few words.

The numerator is the number on top, and the denominator is the

8
number on the bottom. For example, in the fraction , 8 is the
13
numerator and 13 is the denominator.

Also, you should know that fractions represent division. So, another
8
way to show the fraction is 8 13.
13
 2. Finding Factors

Large integers can be made by multiplying small integers (prime

numbers) together. All of the small integers that multiply together to
make a large integer are called its factors.

To find a number’s factors, you just have to look at the number and try
dividing it by small numbers (prime numbers). If it divides evenly by a
certain number, that number is one of its factors.

Here are some prime numbers to test:

2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29

Example:
What are the factors of 12?

12 / 7 = 1.71…, so 7 is not a factor.

12 / 2 = 6, so 2 is a factor.

So, 12 = 2 6. But we’re not done. Let’s look at 6.

6 / 2 = 3, so 2 and 3 are factors of 12. So, the simplest way to
write 12’s list of factors is:

12 = 2 2 3.

What are the factors of these numbers?

36 18 12 16

42 126 252 49

450 18 90 150

24 675 54 125

135 90 216 75

1512 24696 108 504

2450 2058 73500 189000

 3. Converting Whole Numbers to Rational Form

All whole numbers are rational numbers. To convert a whole number to

rational form is easy. Just write the number in the numerator of a
fraction and make the denominator 1.

For example:
63
63
1

Convert these numbers to rational form

0 -6 1 3

29 -93 96 -54

-289 873 -414 334

-1417 3035 -3737 4113

 4. Converting Mixed Fractions to Rational Form

All mixed fractions are rational numbers. To convert a mixed fraction to

rational form (an improper fraction) is easy:
1. Multiply the whole number by the denominator.
2. Add this new number to the original numerator.
3. Write this new numerator over the original denominator.

For example:
2 6 5 2 30 2 32
6
5 5 5 5
 5. Converting Terminating Decimals to Rational Form

All terminating decimals can be converted into rational form. There are
a few easy steps to do this.

1. Move the decimal to the right until the end of the number.
Count the number of moves.
2. Write the new number (with no decimal) as the numerator.
3. How many moves did you count? Let’s call that number m.
The denominator is 10m.

Example:

0.726 becomes 726 after 3 moves.

726 726
So, 0.726 . (You could reduce this further, but we’ll get
103 1000
to that later.)

70.1002 becomes 701002 after 4 moves.

701002 701002
So, 70.1002 . (Again, you could reduce this – and
104 10000
convert it into a mixed fraction.)

Convert these numbers to rational form

3.28 0.282 0.12 -0.916

0.06867 1.0339 0.00088 0.8518

0.04286 0.00064 0.00807 6.003

89731.6 90.275 1.6169 0.00524

 6. Converting Repeating Decimals to Rational Form

Repeating decimals are also all rational numbers. It’s actually pretty
easy to convert a repeating decimal to a fraction:

1. Count the number of digits in the repetend (the part of the

number that repeats). Let’s call this number r.
2. The repetend becomes the numerator.
3. To write the denominator, just write as many 9s as the digits in
the repetend.

Example:
396
0.396 (This fraction could still be reduced.)
999
Example:

18
0.0018
9999 (This fraction can also be reduced.)
 7. Finding Common Multiples – Part I

Often, when we work with rational numbers, we need to find common

multiples so that we can find a common denominator. There are three
ways to find common multiples:
A) Make lists
B) Factor Trees
C) Cross-multiply

A) One way to find common multiples is to make lists of the multiples of

both numbers. Then, inspect the lists to find the same entry. The first
same entry is the lowest common multiple:
Example:
Find a common multiple of 72 and 60:

Multiples Multiples
of 72 of 60
72 60
144 120
216 180
288 240
360 300
432 360

360 is a common multiple of 72 and 60.

6 60 = 360
5 72 = 360

LCM (60, 72) = 360

Find the lowest common multiple using lists:

LCM(35, 45) LCM(45, 18)

LCM(4, 16) LCM(25, 35)
LCM(72, 48) LCM(84, 84)
LCM(20, 70) LCM(216, 81)
 7. Finding Common Multiples – Part II

B) Another way to find common multiples is to use factors:

1) Find all factors of both numbers.
2) Find the factors that are the same for both numbers. Multiply
these together (and let’s call that c).
3) Multiply the factors that are only in the first number (a) by the
factors that are only in the second number (b) by c.

Example:
Find a common multiple of 72 and 60:

Factors of 72 are 2 2 2 3 3
Factors of 60 are 2 2 3 5

Common factors: 2 2 3 = 12
Factors of only 72: 2 3 = 6
Factors of only 60: 5

Lowest common multiple:

LCM(72, 60) = 6 5 12 = 360

Find the lowest common multiple using factors:

LCM(72, 81) LCM(20, 15)

LCM(40, 20) LCM(35, 28)
LCM(105, 189) LCM(72, 180)
LCM(160, 140) LCM(315, 252)
 7. Finding Common Multiples – Part III

C) The final way to find a common multiple is to cross-multiply. This is

the fastest method but it has 2 problems:
i) it usually does not show the lowest common multiple, so
ii) it usually produces a very large number.

To find a multiple, this way, simply multiply the two numbers by each
other. So, 72 60 = 4320.

4320 is a multiple of both 60 and 72, but it is not the lowest multiple.

Find a common multiple using cross-multiplication:

LCM(42, 42) LCM(27, 18)

LCM(28, 63) LCM(63, 81)
LCM(90, 75) LCM(120, 140)
LCM(180, 144) LCM(126, 84)
 8. Equivalent Fractions

When you are working with rational numbers, there are an infinite
number of fractions that have the same value as each other. Two
rational numbers are equivalent if one fraction can be made into the
other by multiplying both the numerator and the denominator by the
same number.

For example:
25 15 50 5
60 36 120 12

5
In this case, all of these fractions are equivalent to
12 .
25
To get
60 , multiply both numerator and denominator by 5.
 9. Reducing Fractions

When working with rational numbers, it’s always desirable to have the
numerals in fractions be as small as possible.

Reducing fractions is easy! Just try to divide the numerator and the
denominator by the same number. If they both can be divided by the
same number, the fraction can be reduced by that factor.

Keep trying to reduce the fraction until both the top and the bottom are
relatively prime. (Relatively prime means that numbers don’t have any
common factors.)

Here are some prime numbers to test (you can also test non-prime
numbers):
2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29

For example,
360 36 36 18
600 60 (divide both by 10), 60 30 (divide both by 2)
18 3 360 3
30 5 (divide both by 6), 600 5
10. Adding (and Subtracting) Fractions with the same denominator

When adding (or subtracting) fractions with the same denominator, you
simply add (or subtract) the numerators, and keep the denominator the
same.

For example:
3 2 ( 3 2) 5
7 7 7 7
 11. Adding (and Subtracting) Fractions with Different
Denominators

When adding (or subtracting) fractions with the different denominators,

you must first rewrite the fractions to have the same denominator. To
do this, you must write find equivalent fractions with the same
denominator.

To find the new denominator, you need to find a common multiple (the
lowest common multiple is best) of the two denominators.

For example:
5 3
?
12 8
LCM (12,8) = 24, so our new denominator is 24.

5 10 3 9
12 24 , 8 24 , so…

5 3 10 9 19
12 8 24 24 24
 12. Mixed Fractions and Improper Fractions

When you write rational numbers with values > 1, you can write them
as mixed fractions or improper fractions (or sometimes whole
numbers).

We already learned how to convert mixed fractions to improper

fractions. But how do you convert an improper fraction to a mixed
fraction?

It’s easy.
1. Divide the numerator by the denominator. The integer part of
this answer becomes the whole number in the mixed fraction.
2. Multiply this new whole number by the denominator. Call this
new number p.
3. Subtract p from the numerator. The difference is your new
numerator. Your denominator stays the same.

Example:
82
: 82 12 = 6.83, so the whole number is 6.
12
6 12 = 72, so p = 72. 82 – 72 = 10, so the new numerator is 10.
82 10 5
6 (This can be reduced to 6 .)
12 12 6
 13. Adding/Subtracting Mixed Fractions

Adding and subtracting mixed fractions is similar to adding regular

fractions.

1. First, add or subtract the whole numbers. This new number

becomes your new whole number.
2. Second, add or subtract the fractional portions. (You may need to
find common denominators first.)
3. If the fractions add/subtract to an improper fraction, you need to
convert it to a mixed fraction and then add/subtract the whole
numbers again.
4. Special case: if you are subtracting, sometimes you may have a
negative whole number and a positive fractional portion or a
negative fractional portion and a positive whole number. You
cannot leave it like this. To deal with this,
a. convert the whole number to an improper fraction
b. add or subtract this to the fractional portion (as
appropriate)
c. if this answer is an improper fraction, convert it to a mixed
fraction.

Example:
3 4 7 2 2
2 4 6 6 1 7
5 5 5 5 5
 13. Adding Subtracting Mixed Fractions – Part II

Subtracting “Special” Example:

3 2 1 10 1 9 9 4
2 4 2 1
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
14. Converting Numbers that include repeating decimals to rational
form

Usually, when you encounter a repeating decimal (like you saw in

section 6), it is part of a number. To convert this kind of number to
rational form is actually pretty easy; it’s just a lot of steps.

1. Turn the number into an addition expression by splitting it before

the repetend.
2. Convert each part of the expression into a rational number.
3. Add these two rational numbers together. (Reduce and/or
convert to a mixed fraction if you wish.)

Example:

342 56 33858 56 33914 127

34.256 34.2 .056 34
10 990 990 990 990 495

Why is this 990 instead of 999 or 99?

The repetend is 2 digits (99), but it’s one

place to the right of the decimal, so we
divide by 10.