A denominator is a value that lies underneath or to the right of the dividing bar in a fraction. The denominator represents the whole unit of a fraction, and the numerator (upper or left number) represents the portion of the whole unit. When you are adding or subtracting fractions, you must have like denominators. But you may want to convert fractions with like denominators so that one fraction has a different denominator. Teachers who are composing worksheets or tests in which their students must find common denominators might want to perform this type of conversion.
Instructions
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1
Write down the two fractions. For instance, you might have 3/8 and 5/8.
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2
Isolate one fraction that you will change. In this example, you might want to change 3/8.
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3
Multiply the numerator and denominator by a fraction with the same number in the numerator and denominator. For example, you could multiply 3/8 by 2/2 to get 6/16.