Equivalent Fractions Using benchmarks

Equivalent is similar to the word equal and we can say that an equivalent fraction is one that is equal in value to another.

We can look at one half for example, written as $\frac{1}{2}$12​.  

Now let's look at quarters.

Here is a piece of paper folded into quarters.

Paper folded into quarters

$1$1 quarter of the paper and $1$1 half of the paper has been outlined.

We can see that $1$1 half is that same as $2$2 quarters.  

Using symbolic language this statement would look like this,

$\frac{1}{2}=\frac{2}{4}$12​=24​

These are called equivalent fractions.

It's really handy to know lots of different equivalent fractions for our benchmark fractions of halves, thirds, ninths, quarters, eighths, fifths and tenths.  

Worked Examples

Question 1

Question 2