Use of fractions in everyday life

First, you must bear in mind that the fractions are numbers and numbers are used to represent quantities.

So you don't have to freak out when you see it or have to use a fraction.

Students from Rio de Janeiro will compete for medals at the Olympics…

The Institute of Mathematics is open for registration for the Olympics…

But when do we use a fraction?

A fraction is used when we want to represent quantities of a “whole”.

To exemplify:

If you buy two pizzas, one with cheese and one with pepperoni, you represent the number of cheese pizzas by the number 1.

However, if you buy only one pizza, half of which is pepperoni and half of cheese, how do you represent the quantity of cheese pizza purchased?

You only have one pizza and that single pizza is what we call the “whole”. In this case, the “whole” is divided into two parts (two flavors), and only one of these parts is cheese, so you can represent the amount of cheese pizza by the fractional number $\dpi{120} \bg_white \frac{1}{2}$ .

In fractions, the top number is called the

numerator, it is the quantity you want to represent. The number at the bottom is called denominator, it is the total number of parts into which the “whole” is divided.

Now, let's look at some more situations where we can use fractions.

Situations where you may see or need to use a fraction

Situation 1 – Culinary recipes

To use $\dpi{120} \bg_white \frac{1}{2}$ glass of water to make a tea, it means that you will use only half a glass of water to make the drink.
To use $\dpi{120} \bg_white \frac{3}{4}$ of wheat flour to make a cake, it means that you will “divide” the cup into four equal parts and fill it with flour until completing the third part of it.

Fractions in cooking recipes — Example of fraction in everyday life – Cup of flour.

Situation 2 – News from newspapers

$\dpi{120} \bg_white \frac{2}{3}$ of 15-year-old students in Brazil do not understand basic math operations, such as fractions. This means that two out of three students do not understand basic math operations.
$\dpi{120} \bg_white \frac{8}{10}$ of women have already suffered some type of violence by someone they know. It means that 8 out of 10 women have already suffered this type of violence.

Situation 3 – Sports and games

$\dpi{120} \bg_white \frac{1}{4}$ of the 12 players on a volleyball team did not participate in training. It means that one in four players did not participate in training. In total, three players did not participate, as the team has 12 players.
$\dpi{120} \bg_white \frac{2}{5}$ of competitors in a chess tournament were women. It means that out of every five people who competed, two of them were women and the other three were men.

Situation 4 -geographic information

About $\dpi{120} \bg_white \frac{48}{100}$ of the country's population are men. Which means that out of every 100 people, 48 are expected to be men and the remaining 52 are women.
The states of the Northeast region represent $\dpi{120} \bg_white \frac{9}{26}$ of the Brazilian states. This means that, out of all 26 states, 9 of them are from the Northeast region.