Math Lesson 3.3.8 - Applications of Fractions Comparison in Practice

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Welcome to our Math lesson on Applications of Fractions Comparison in Practice, this is the eighth lesson of our suite of math lessons covering the topic of Comparing Fractions. Ordering Fractions, you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional Math learning resources below this lesson.

Applications of Fractions Comparison in Practice

Now let's see how the comparison of fractions is applied in practice through a couple of examples.

Example 8

A student read 17/24 of a book and another student read 11/15 of the same book during the same time. Which student has read more pages during the given time?

Solution 8

We have to compare the two fractions to determine which student has read more pages. In this case, it is better to find the LCM of denominators. Thus, since LCM (15 and 24) is 120, we have

Student 1 = 17/24 of the book = (17 × 5)/(24 × 5) = 85/120 of the bookStudent 1 = 11/15 of the book = (11 × 8)/(15 × 8) = 88/120 of the book

Therefore, the second student has read more pages from the book as

88/120 > 85/120

which means that,

11/15 > 17/24

Another example regarding statistics:

Example 9

27 people out of 51 in country A and 36 out of 67 people in country B have attended college. Which country has more educated people?

Solution 9

This time it is better to calculate the LCM of numerators. We have LCM (27 and 36) = 108. Hence,

Country A = 27/51 = (27 × 4)/(51 × 4) = 108/204 of population who have attended collegeCountry B = 36/67 = (36 × 3)/(67 × 3) = 108/201 of population who have attended college

Thus, in two fraction having the same numerator the biggest one is the fraction with the smallest denominator, it is clear that

108/201 > 108/204

that is

36/67 > 27/51

Therefore, country B has more educated people that country A.

More Comparing Fractions. Ordering Fractions Lessons and Learning Resources

Fractions Learning Material
Tutorial ID	Math Tutorial Title	Revision Notes	Revision Questions
3.3	Comparing Fractions. Ordering Fractions
Lesson ID	Math Lesson Title	Lesson	Video Lesson
3.3.1	Comparing Fractions with the Same Denominator
3.3.2	Comparing Fractions with the Same Numerator
3.3.3	Comparing Fractions with Different Numerators and Denominators
3.3.4	Comparing Improper Fractions and Mixed Numbers
3.3.5	Adding or Subtracting the Numerator or Denominator of a Fraction by the Same Number
3.3.6	Ordering Fractions
3.3.7	Ordering Fractions in the Number Line
3.3.8	Applications of Fractions Comparison in Practice

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Continuing learning fractions - read our next math tutorial: Operations with Fractions

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