Jonah Cude

MAT 256 - Schultz

April 9th, 2019

Comparing Fractions Cheat Sheet

At first glance, comparing the size of fractions can seem quite complex and difficult with

all of the varying numbers, both on the bottom and the top. However, there a few simple methods

that make this process seem much less intimidating. Answer the following questions to choose a

method that works best for any given fraction comparison problem.

Do the fractions have the same denominator?

First off, if two fractions being compared both have the same denominator (the bottom

number that represents how many parts make up a whole), one only needs to look at the

numerator (the top number that represents how many parts that actually exist out of the total in

the whole). Whichever numerator is larger, belongs to the larger fraction in this situation. Here is

an example:
Do the fractions have the same numerator?

The flipside to this method is comparing fractions that have the same numerator. For

background, the higher the denominator, the more parts there are that make up a whole. This

means that the more parts there are to make up a standard-sized whole, the smaller those parts

have to be. Contrarily, the lower the denominator is, the larger each part has to be to cover the

whole. When comparing two fractions with the same numerator, one knows that each fraction

has the same number of parts out of the whole. However, the fraction with the lower

denominator represents the fact that the parts in the fraction cover a larger area than the same

number of parts in the fraction with a higher denominator. Remember: when two fractions have

the same numerator, the lower denominator belongs to the larger fraction. Here is an example:

Do both the denominators and the numerators differ?

Both of these methods are great tools, but what happens when neither the denominator or

the numerator are the same? One method to use in this situation is comparing both of the

fractions to one half. In any given fraction, one can determine whether the numerator is more less
than half of the denominator. If it is exactly half of the denominator, the fraction is equal to one

half. If one fraction has a numerator that is less than half of the denominator, and the other

fraction has a numerator that is more than half of the denominator, the latter is the larger fraction.

Are both fractions either less or more than one half?

If both fractions are either less or more than one half, there is one more easy method to

use: creating common denominators. In two given fractions, one can use both denominators to

obtain a least common multiple from the two numbers. This multiple will be the new

denominator that both fractions are converted to. In one fraction, whatever number the

denominator was multiplied by to get to the common multiple, the numerator will be multiplied

by that number, too. The same is done to the other fractions, and now both fractions have the

same denominator. At this point, the first method mentioned in this cheat sheet can be used to

compare the fractions: whichever numerator is larger, that’s the larger fraction.