KS3

How to simplify fractions

Part ofMathsFractions

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

This video can not be played

A one-minute video showing how to simplify fractions.

Simplify fractions

Skip image gallery

Image caption,
Click to see a step-by-step slideshow.
Image caption,
WHAT YOU NEED: ruler, whiteboard, black pen, coloured pens.
Image caption,
STEP 1: Write the question and circle the key information. Draw a bar and split it into 12 equal segments: the denominator of the fraction. Label the end '/12'. Shade in 9 segments and label the end of these '9': the numerator of the fraction.
Image caption,
STEP 2: Time to simplify the fraction. Look for a number that goes into both the numerator and the denominator. Start with 2. See if you can split the 9 shaded segments of the bar into 2s. This won’t work because 9 doesn’t divide by 2 exactly...
Image caption,
...so next try more numbers: 3, 5, 7 and so on. Here 3 works because 9 divides by 3, and 12 also divides by 3 exactly. You have found a common factor!
Image caption,
STEP 3: Draw a bar directly below the top bar. Use the ruler to split the bar into one segment for each 3 on the top bar, and shade in the segments below the shaded segments on the top bar. You can see visually that the fraction is the same.
Image caption,
STEP 4: Label the bottom bar with the total and shaded number of segments, here '3' and '/4'.
Image caption,
When you write out the fractions shown on each bar you can see that 9/12 = 3/4. You have simplified 9/12 to 3/4! Can you simplify this fraction even more? If not, congratulations, you have found the simplest form of the fraction!

Simplify the fraction

Where next?

Discover more maths topics on Bitesize.

More on Fractions

Find out more by working through a topic

WATCH: How to work out a fraction of an amount
count
4 of 8
WATCH: How to add fractions
count
5 of 8
WATCH: How to subtract fractions
count
6 of 8
WATCH: How to multiply fractions by folding paper
count
7 of 8