Fractions from quantities

Topic summary

To find a fraction when given a part and the total quantity, you can put the part over the total: \(\dfrac{\text{part}}{\text{total}}\)

Creating a fraction

If 12 out of 30 students are wearing glasses, the fraction of students wearing glasses is:

\[\frac{12}{30}\]

We can cancel this down by dividing the numerator and denominator by 6.

\[\frac{12}{30} = \frac{2}{5}\]

So, \(\dfrac{2}{5}\)​ of the students are wearing glasses.