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How to Estimate Fractions With a Number Line

Written as a number above another number with a horizontal line in the middle, fractions represent how many parts of a single object you have. The bottom number is how many slices of the object make a complete object, while the top is how many of those slices there are. This is easily shown using a number line.

Things You'll Need

  • Paper
  • Writing instrument
  • Ruler
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Instructions

    • 1

      Draw a horizontal line on a piece of paper. This will be your number line.

    • 2

      Make two vertical tick marks on the line, one near the left side of the paper, the other near the right.

    • 3

      Label the tick mark on the left with a "0" and the tick mark on the right with a "1."

    • 4

      Determine the denominator of the fraction. This is the bottom number and represents how many pieces make up the whole.

    • 5

      Using a ruler, measure out the number of segments along the entire length between 0 and 1, making a smaller horizontal mark at the end of each piece. The beginning of the first small piece will start at the 0 mark and the end of the last small piece will be at the 1 mark. For example, if the denominator is an 8, there will be 8 segments of equal length, each with its own smaller tick mark, between 0 and 1.

    • 6

      Label each of the small tick marks from "1" to the number of segments determined by the denominator. The last segment should end at the right-hand tick mark denoted as "1."

    • 7

      Determine the numerator of the fraction. This is the top number and represents how many of the pieces you have.

    • 8

      Draw a horizontal line over the number line itself until you reach the number in the numerator. For example, if the numerator is 5, draw a line from the 0 to the 5th small tick mark between the 0 and 1. Using the denominator from earlier, this line would represent the fraction 5/8.

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