Adding & Subtracting MIXED Fractions!

Just when you thought we were done with the adding and subtracting fraction lesson...haha. There's always more to learn! This week I wanted to focus on how to add and subtract mixed fractions. It's not exactly the same as adding/subtracting regular fractions, and the teaching methods are important here since this can get a little tricky.

To begin, I think it makes sense to get some general definitions out of the way. A mixed fraction is essentially just a whole number and a fraction combined, such as 1 3/4. If you think about it in terms of a pizza pie, it would be one whole pizza pie, and 3/4ths of another pizza pie. So...it would look like this:

To make it easier to add and/or subtract fractions, the first step is to convert the mixed fraction into an improper fraction. Definition time! An improper fraction has a numerator that is larger than or equal to the denominator. So, 1 3/4 would actually be 7/4...because the whole number one is equivalent to 4/4 and you still have 3/4ths of the second pie. So if you add both numerators, you get 7, and if your denominator is 4, then your improper fraction equals 7/4.

So, let's try adding mixed fractions now! Here are the steps:

1) Convert the mixed fraction to an improper fraction
2) Add or subtract the fraction
3) Convert the answer back into a mixed fraction

See below for an example from MathisFun.com:

Subtracting mixed fractions is pretty much the same, but here's a helpful example:

Next week, we'll focus on multiplying and dividing mixed fractions!