What Is a Fraction?
Definition
Fraction: A number written a/b that shows how many equal parts of a whole you take. The top number a is the numerator, the bottom number b the denominator, which cannot be zero.
A fraction is a number written a/b that shows how many equal parts of a whole you take. The top number a is the numerator and the bottom number b is the denominator, which cannot be zero. A fraction equals its numerator divided by its denominator: 3/4 = 0.75. Dividing both by the same number keeps the value.
Where it appears in the formulas
The fraction simplifier finds the value with decimal = numerator / denominator and the lowest terms with simplified numerator = numerator / GCD and simplified denominator = denominator / GCD. For 84/126 the GCD is 42, and the fraction becomes 2/3.
Kinds of fractions
A positive fraction whose numerator is smaller than its denominator is a proper fraction. One whose numerator is equal to or larger than its denominator is an improper fraction, which you can also write as a mixed number: 17/5 = 3 2/5.