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ESO Y4A · Mathematics
Numbers · Integers, rational and decimal numbers

Rational numbers (fractions)

Fractions shouldn't hold any surprises for you now: you have been simplifying, comparing and operating with them since 1st ESO. This section reviews the essentials at top speed and focuses on what really makes 4th ESO problems tricky: applying a fraction several times in a chain.

Before you start, make sure you know: Fractions and decimals (3rd ESO)
Before you start, make sure you know: Operations with rational numbers (2nd ESO)

Simplifying: the irreducible fraction

Flowchart of the calculation to simplify 1260/1500 by breaking it down into prime factors and dividing by the HCF (60) to reach 21/25. 1260/1500 1260 = 2²·3²·5·71500 = 2²·3·5³ m.c.d.(1260, 1500)= 60 = 21/25
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Simplify the following fraction to its simplest form: $\frac{1260}{1500}$.

Simplify the following fraction to its simplest form: $\frac{1260}{1500}$.

Solve

Fraction and decimal: terminating or recurring?

Classification diagram for irreducible fractions into terminating, purely recurring or mixed recurring decimals according to the prime factors of the denominator. fractiondenominatordecimal 13/4040 = 2³·5terminating 5/2121 = 3·7recurringpure
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Express the purely recurring decimal number $3,\overline{45}$ as an irreducible fraction.

Express the purely recurring decimal number $3,\overline{45}$ as an irreducible fraction.

Solve
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Without performing the division, determine which of the following fractions will result in a terminating decimal and which in a recurring decimal, justifying your answer…

Without performing the division, determine which of the following fractions will result in a terminating decimal and which in a recurring decimal, justifying your answer by factorising the denominators: $\frac{13}{40}$, $\frac{5}{21}$, $\frac{27}{250}$.

Solve

Fractions on the number line

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Look at the following number line. Identify which rational numbers (as irreducible fractions) correspond to the points marked with the letters A, B and C.

Look at the following number line. Identify which rational numbers (as irreducible fractions) correspond to the points marked with the letters A, B and C.

−1 0 1 2 A B C
Solve

Combined operations with fractions

Order of operations for solving 3/4 − 1/2 · (5/6 + 1/3), showing the sequence: brackets, multiplication and subtraction. 3/4 − 1/2 · (5/6 + 1/3) 1ºbrackets 2ºproduct 3ºsubtraction
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Work out the following combined calculation with fractions and simplify the result: $\frac{3}{4} - \frac{1}{2} \cdot \left( \frac{5}{6} + \frac{1}{3} \right)$.

Work out the following combined calculation with fractions and simplify the result: $\frac{3}{4} - \frac{1}{2} \cdot \left( \frac{5}{6} + \frac{1}{3} \right)$.

Solve
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An employee uses $\frac{1}{4}$ of his monthly salary to pay the rent for his home and $\frac{2}{5}$ of the remainder for food and utility expenses. If after making these…

An employee uses $\frac{1}{4}$ of his monthly salary to pay the rent for his home and $\frac{2}{5}$ of the remainder for food and utility expenses. If after making these payments he has $810$ euros left in his account, what is his total monthly salary?

Solve
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A reservoir used for irrigation was filled to $\frac{7}{8}$ of its total capacity. After a week of severe drought, an amount of water equivalent to $\frac{1}{5}$ of the…

A reservoir used for irrigation was filled to $\frac{7}{8}$ of its total capacity. After a week of severe drought, an amount of water equivalent to $\frac{1}{5}$ of the total capacity of the reservoir evaporates and is consumed. Later, heavy rainfall adds an amount of water equal to $\frac{1}{4}$ of the water remaining at that moment. If the total capacity of the reservoir is $1200$ cubic hectometres, what fraction of the total capacity of the reservoir is now full, and how many cubic hectometres does it contain?

Solve

A fraction repeated several times

What is new in 4th ESO is not the fraction itself, but chaining the same operation several times: each bounce, each turn of a gear, each square inscribed in the previous one.

Animation of successive bounces of a ball dropped from a height of 10 metres: the ball falls and each bounce reaches three quarters of the height of the previous one; the labels light up as the ball reaches each bounce. 10 m 3/4 of 10 3/4 of that 3/4 again
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A rubber ball special for physics experiments is dropped from an initial height of $10$ metres. After hitting the ground, on each bounce it reaches a height equal to…

A rubber ball special for physics experiments is dropped from an initial height of $10$ metres. After hitting the ground, on each bounce it reaches a height equal to $\frac{3}{4}$ of the height reached on the immediately preceding bounce. What height does the ball reach after the third bounce? Express the final result first as an irreducible fraction and then as a decimal number.

Solve
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A clockwork mechanism consists of a system of three gears A, B and C connected in series (A drives B, and B drives C). Gear A has $12$ teeth, gear B has $18$ teeth and…

A clockwork mechanism consists of a system of three gears A, B and C connected in series (A drives B, and B drives C). Gear A has $12$ teeth, gear B has $18$ teeth and gear C has $30$ teeth. Knowing that the number of turns a gear makes is inversely proportional to its number of teeth, if gear A turns exactly $\frac{15}{4}$ of a turn, what fraction of a turn will gear C make?

Solve
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In the architectural design of a mosaic, an initial square of area $1 \text{ m}^2$ is drawn. Inside it, a second square is inscribed by joining the midpoints of the…

In the architectural design of a mosaic, an initial square of area $1 \text{ m}^2$ is drawn. Inside it, a second square is inscribed by joining the midpoints of the sides of the first. This geometric process is repeated to draw a third square inscribed in the second, and a fourth square inscribed in the third. What fraction of the area of the first square represents the area contained exclusively between the third and fourth squares?

1 2 3 4

You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.

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Summary

See all the exercises in this section