What are equivalent fractions

In this video I will explain what are equivalent fractions. Equivalent fractions are those that equal the same units, that is, they represent exactly the same part of the unit. Another way to define equivalent fractions is by understanding them as fractions that represent the same quantity, even though they may seem different to us.

How do we know if they are equivalent? Two fractions are equivalent if the products, or the results of the divisions, between the numerator of one and the denominator of the other are equal, that is, if cross products are the same. In this image we can see a practical example of three equivalent fractions:

We can do the cross products to check that they are effectively equivalent fractions: The numerator of the first fraction is 1 and the denominator of the second fraction is 4, so the product of this 1/4 division is 0.25. Then the numerator of the second fraction is 2 and the denominator of the third fraction is 8, the result of this 2/8 division is 0.25. Thus, we can say that since the cross products of these three fractions give us the same result, 0.25, they are three equivalent fractions. Another very simple way to find out is to simply calculate the exact result of each fraction, in this case we will see that they all result in 0.5, so they are equivalent fractions.

Exists a very simple trick to find out if two fractions are equivalent What you can do: multiply the numerator of the first fraction by the denominator of the second and the denominator of the first by the numerator of the second. If the two results are equal, the fractions will be equivalent and if they are different, it means that those two fractions are not equivalent and therefore do not represent exactly the same part of a Unit.

Example of cross multiplication to check that two fractions are equivalent:

We can see that, it's about two equivalent fractions or equal because the multiplication of the numerator of the first with the denominator of the second and the multiplication of the denominator of the first and the numerator of the second give 24 both, so both fractions represent the same portion of a Unit.

In the video I give you more examples so that you understand it better. Also, if you want to practice with the equivalent fractions, you can do the printable exercises with their solutions that I have left you on the web.