What is a fraction?
Split it into equal parts, then shade some. That one amount is a pie, a bar, a place on a line, a decimal and a percent, all at the same time.
3 8 = 1 2
Three of eight equal parts are shaded.
- As a decimal
- 0.375
- As a percent
- 37.5%
Click a slice or a part of the bar to shade up to it.
The same amount, cut differently
Ready to try some? Equivalent-fractions worksheets
Where it usually goes wrong
A fraction gets read as two whole numbers stacked up rather than as one number. That is what lets 3/8 be described as “bigger than 1/2 because 8 is bigger than 2”, and it is why a fraction is so rarely looked for on a number line — a pair of numbers has no place to sit.
Try this
- Shade three of eight parts, then press 1/2, 2/4 and 4/8 in turn. The shading does not move: three different names, one amount.
- Read the decimal and the percent as you shade. 3/8, 0.375 and 37.5% are the same fact written three ways for three different occasions.
- Set the parts to 1. A fraction with one part underneath is a whole number, which is what makes whole numbers fractions too.
Where this goes next
Decimals, percents, ratio and probability are all this one idea wearing different clothes, and each of them expects you to have stopped seeing two numbers.