You have probably already had experience with questions like,
What is a half of $16$16? This is because halves come up all the time, especially if you have ever had to share with a a brother or a sister! To find a half of something we know that we divide it by $2$2.
We can also write a half of 16 using symbolic fraction notation. It would look like this $\frac{1}{2}\times16$12×16
So if we have to do questions like $\frac{1}{2}$12 of $32$32 or $\frac{1}{4}$14 of $16$16 we might find it easier to say a half of $32$32, or a quarter of $16$16. The answers are sometimes more obvious!
What about questions like $\frac{1}{3}$13 of $4$4 or $\frac{1}{4}$14 of $9$9. Saying these in words doesn't help much here. A third of $4$4, or a quarter of $9$9 - so I still don't know the answer!
So let's try something else, because multiplication is commutative we can change the order around. You know how $2\times4=4\times2$2×4=4×2, well this works when you are multiplying anything - even fractions.
Lets see how this might help
$4\times\frac{1}{3}$4×13 we would say as $4$4 thirds..... just like how $2\times4$2×4 we say $2$2 fours.
Well $4$4 thirds, is the answer! We can write $4$4 thirds as $\frac{4}{3}$43.
Now lets connect some dots.
$\frac{1}{3}$13 of $4$4 = $\frac{1}{3}\times4$13×4 = $4\times\frac{1}{3}$4×13 = $4$4 thirds = $\frac{4}{3}$43 = $4\div3$4÷3
One third, ended up being the same as dividing by $3$3.
Lets look at another one,
$\frac{1}{5}$15of $20$20 = $\frac{1}{5}\times20$15×20=$20\times\frac{1}{5}$20×15 = $20$20 fifths = $\frac{20}{5}$205 = $20\div5$20÷5 , so$\frac{1}{5}$15is the same as dividing by $5$5.
This comes right back to our definition of a fraction, the denominator is how many parts we divide up into.
So $\frac{1}{10}$110 of $80$80 is $80\div10=8$80÷10=8
$\frac{1}{4}$14 of $20$20 is $20\div4=5$20÷4=5
and
$\frac{1}{7}$17 of $21$21 is $21\div7=3$21÷7=3
What is $\frac{1}{5}$15 of $20$20?
What is $\frac{1}{14}$114 of $35$35 pizzas? Express your answer in simplest fraction form.
What is $\frac{1}{10}$110 of $50$50 litres?