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Course: 4th grade > Unit 9
Lesson 1: Multiplying fractions and whole numbers visuallyFraction multiplication on the number line
Sal uses number lines to help solve multiplication equations.
Want to join the conversation?
- I only understand this a little bit not alot but a little bit 😗(16 votes)
- that would be -4(5 votes)
- :) This is easy for me(2 votes)
- super easy for me to:)(1 vote)
- everyone have a blessed wonderful day(1 vote)
- idk what that means can you put it in a different way maybe(1 vote)
- i like khan akadmey(1 vote)
- you spelled Khan academy wrong I also love Khan acadmey(1 vote)
- i kinda understand but i there another way to do this cause it's hard to understand(1 vote)
- A simpler way to do this is by multiplying the whole number by the numerator (top or left number) of the fraction.
For example,4 x 2/3
:4 x 2/3 = (4 x 2)/3 = 8/3
(1 vote)
- is there other way to do this(1 vote)
- What if it takes too long to draw the number line can’t you just times the numerator by lets say three(0 votes)
Video transcript
- [Instructor] So, what
we're gonna think about in this video is multiplying fractions. So, let's say that we wanted to take 2/3 and we want to multiply it by four, what is this going to be equal to? Pause this video and try to
think about it on your own. Alright, now let's work
through this together. And, to help us, I will use a number line, and let's say that each
of these hash marks represent a third. So, this is zero, this is 1/3, 2/3, 3/3, 4/3, 5/3, 6/3, 7/3, 8/3, and 9/3, and so
where is 2/3 times one? Well, 2/3 times one is
just going to be 2/3, we just take a jump of
2/3, so that is times 1. If we multiply by, or if
we take 2/3 times two, that'll be two jumps, so one 2/3, two 2/3, three
2/3, and then four 2/3. So, we just took four jumps of 2/3 each. You could view that as 2/3
plus 2/3 plus 2/3 plus 2/3, and where does that get us to? It got us to 8/3. So, notice, 2/3 times
four is equal to 8/3. Now, we could go the other way, we could look at a number line and think about what are ways to represent what the number line is showing us? And, on Khan Academy, we
have some example problems that do it that way, so I thought it would be good
to do an example like that. And, so, let's label this number line a little bit different. Instead of each of these
lines representing a third, let's say they represent a half, so zero, 1/2, 2/2, 3/2, 4/2, 5/2, why did I write 5/6, my
brain is going ahead, 5/2, 6/2, 7/2, 8/2, and 9/2. And, let's say we were to
see something like this. So, if you were to just
see this representation, so I'm going to try to draw it like this, so if you were to just
see this representation, what is that trying to represent? What type of multiplication
is that trying to represent? Well, you could view that
as 3/2 plus another 3/2 plus another 3/2, 'cause, notice, each of these jumps are three 1/2, or 3/2. So, you could view this
as 3/2 plus 3/2 plus 3/2, or another way of thinking about it is this is three jumps of 3/2. So, you can also view this
as doing the same thing as three times 3/2, and
what are these equal to? Well, 3/2 plus 3/2 plus
3/2, or three times 3/2, it gets you to 9/2.