Maths of the Day: Football Fractions

GARY: Football is full of numbers. 11 against 11, four- four- two, goal tallies.

So next time you watch a football match, look out for the hidden maths.

Let’s go over now to the ‘Kick About’ studio to see what todays ‘Maths Of The Day’ topic is.

BEN: Thanks Gary, so todays ‘Maths Of The Day’ topic is football fractions.

A fraction is a part of something. For example, a football team as 11 players. So each player is one eleventh of the team. And a football pitch is split into two halves.

A half is one equal part in something that has been split in two.

Other fractions include the third; one part of something that’s been split into three, and the quarter; one part of something that has been split into four.

A football match lasts 90 minutes and TV pundits often say ‘it’s a game off two halves.’ So half of a match will be 45 minutes.

Remember one match lasts 90 minutes. Back to you Gary, in the studio.

GARY: Thanks Ben, let’s try some more football fractions.

Question one; how long would one third of a match be?

One third of a match is 30 minutes. Three lots of 30 minutes makes 90 minutes. Let’s see how you do with the next one.

Question two; How long would one fifth of a match be?

That was a trickier one. One fifth of a match equals 18 minutes.

And finally question three; how long would one tenth of a match be?

One tenth of a match equals nine minutes. Result!

Did you realise that to get the answers, you just had to divide 90 minutes with the number at the bottom of your fraction. That number is called the denominator, while the number on the top is called the numerator.

That’s all from me for now. Keep practising and you’ll soon be a footballing fraction fan.