How to Multiply Fractions

One of the basic math lessons includes the treatment of fractions. The addition, the multiplication, the subtraction and division of fractions has a lot of students in a fix and wondering how to proceed. Well, it is remarkably simple to learn multiplying fractions in mathematics. It is important to learn this as it forms the base for several math sums in the years to come and hence it is a problem solving technique which you ought to master.

Multiplying Fractions with Whole Numbers
The first thing you have to do is to convert the whole number into a fraction. How? Simple. By putting '1' in place of the denominator, you turn a whole number into a fraction. Multiplying two fractions is very easy. All you have to do is multiply the two numerators and then multiply the two denominators. And you have the answer. Let us see an example.

3 * ⁴/₅

Here 3 is a whole number while 4/3 is a fraction. So first convert the whole number into a fraction.

³/₁ * ⁴/₅

= ^3*4 / _1*5

= ¹²/₅

Multiplying Fractions with Different Denominators
Multiply the two numerators and the two denominators. Here's an example.

⁴/₅ * ⁵/₉

= ^4*5 / _5*9

= ²⁰/₄₅

Multiplying Mixed Fractions
Now if you have a mixed fraction, where there is an integer part and a fractional part, how to multiply mixed number fractions. The first step is to convert the mixed fraction into an improper fraction. You can do this by multiplying the integer to the denominator and adding the numerator to the result. The result thus obtained will be the numerators of the improper fraction. The denominator will be the same as that of the mixed fraction. Then multiply the two numerators and denominators and you can get your answer.

3 ⁴/₃ * 5 ⁴/₃

= ¹³/₃ * ¹⁹/₃

=^{13 * 19}/_{3 * 3}

= ²⁴⁷/₉

Multiplying Fractions with Variables
Now if you have variables in a fraction, you have to again proceed in the same way. Multiply the variables in the numerators and the variables in the denominators.

^xy/_z * ^a/_bc

= ^xya/_zbc

I think that this pretty comprehensively covers everything related to your query about the ways to multiply fractions. Hopefully this will help you finish your homework. Multiplying fractions is really easy and I hope you know how to by now!