Egyptian Fractions

Part 1: I noticed something the other day…

1 1 1
a) = + can you show that this is true?
2 3 6

By Benoît Stella alias BenduKiwi, CC BY-SA 3.0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18
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1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
b) = + = + = + = + = +
3 4 12 4 5 20 5 6 30 6 7 7

c) Do you think you can find two more examples?

d) Do you think you can write down a rule for what we have found?

e) Do you think you can represent what you have written above as an algebraic expression?
 Egyptian Fractions
Part 2: I noticed something else…

2 1 1
a) = + Can you verify that this is true?
3 2 6

2 2 3 2 4 3
b) Why would I not bother with these fractions: , , , , , , … etc. ?
4 6 6 8 8 9

2 1 1 2 1 1
c) So I begin to notice some more: = + = + show that these are
5 3 15 7 4 28
true

d) Can you compare your answers in 2 (a) and (c) with the examples in 1 (b), do you notice
any patterns?

2
e) From the patterns you see, can you break down
11
into Egyptian fractions?

f) Can you make up two more examples of fractions that are like the fractions in part 2?

g) Can you write down a rule for breaking down fractions with a numerator of two?
 Egyptian Fractions
Part 3 (Extension)
3 1 1 3 1 1
So I noticed… = + & = +
5 2 10 8 3 24