Unit fractions are fractions that have one for the numerator. If the denominator is greater than one the unit fraction is also proper. Egyptians used unit fractions extensively when writing numbers that were in fraction form. It is not really known why they expressed parts in terms of 1/3 + 1/15 instead of just writing 2/5, but they did. Unit fractions today are mostly used in number theory and puzzles, but the Egyptian formulas for deriving unit fractions still work.
Instructions
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1
Take your original fraction such as 3/4. To express it in terms of unit fractions, it would be 1/4 + 1/4 + 1/4.
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2
Reduce fractions. If you want to express 3/4 in two unit fractions, you would have 1/4 + 2/4, which you would reduce to 1/4 + 1/2.
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3
Use the formula to find unit fractions for simple prime numbers. 2/p = 1/(p+1)/2 + 1/p(p+1)/2. If p=7, that would be 2/7 = 1/4 + 1/28.