Content

• To step
• Tips

Multiplying fractions with whole numbers is easy if you know how to write whole numbers as a fraction. Follow the simple steps in this article to learn how to multiply fractions by whole numbers.

To step

1. Write the whole number as a fraction. To write a whole number as a fraction, write the number as the numerator and 1 as the denominator.
   • For example, if you want to write the number 5 as a fraction, you would write 5/1. 5 becomes the numerator and 1 becomes the denominator. If you divide a number by 1, the value remains the same.
2. Multiply the numerators of the two fractions. To find the numerator of the result, multiply the numerator of the first fraction by the numerator of the second fraction.
   • Multiply the numerators of 5/1 and 8/10 as follows: 5 * 8 = 40. So the new numerator is 40.
3. Multiply the denominators of the two fractions. To find the denominator of the result, multiply the denominator of the first fraction by the denominator of the second fraction.
   • Multiply the denominators of 5/1 and 8/10 as follows: 1 * 10 = 10. So the new denominator is 10.
   • Now you have the result in fraction form. The outcome is 40/10.
4. Simplify the fraction. There is a simplest form for every fraction, in which the numerator and denominator are as small as possible. Divide the numerator and denominator by the same number until the greatest common divisor is 1. In this case, you can divide 40 and 10 by 10. 40/10 = 4 and 10/10 = 1. So you can also write the fraction as 4/1 or as 4.
   • Suppose the outcome is 4/6, you can divide the numerator and denominator by 2. 4/6 = 2/3.

Tips

• We call fractions where the numerator is greater than the denominator an "improper fraction". You can write these fractions in fraction form, but you can also write down the whole numbers in the fraction separately. For example: we first simplify 10/4 to 5/2. Now you can leave the result like this (5/2) or you can write it down as 2 1/2.
• If the numbers in the problem were in fraction form, you can also leave the result in fraction form. If the improper fraction was written as a combination of whole numbers and a fraction, you do the same with the result.