Operations of Fraction

Technique: Express a fraction as the sum of two distinct unit fractions.

Recall: A unit fraction is a fraction with a numerator of 1 and a denominator that is any counting number.
Example 1:
Express

1
as the sum of two distinct unit fractions.
12

Solution:
Lets multiply both numerator and denominator of

1
by a nonzero number, then split the new numerator into
12

two whole numbers but be sure those two splitting whole numbers are both factors of 12, it is only in this way
that the simplified fraction will always arrive at a numerator of 1.
(1)
(2)
(3)
:
:

1
1 3
3
1
2
1
1

;
12 12 3 36 36 36 36 18
1
1 4
4
1
3
1
1

;
12 12 4 48 48 48 48 16
1
1 5
5
3
2
1
1

.
12 12 5 60 60 60 20 30

There are still many solutions to this problem.

Example 2:
Express

1
as the sum of three distinct unit fractions.
12

Solution:
Since

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

, hence we have

.
and
12 36 18
18 180 20
12 36 180 20

Let us follow the pattern that we develop in Example 1, that is;

1
1 (1 2 3)
1
1
1

.
12 12 (1 2 3) 72 36 24

Take note that the above expression is not the only solution.

Technique: In performing the operation of fractions, we can adopt the concept of split fraction to lead
to an easy way of obtaining an answer.
Example 3:
Find the sum of

1 1 1
1

. .
2 6 12 20

Solution:
Below is the traditional method of perform addition of fractions
1 1 1
1
60 20 10
6
96 4

.
2 6 12 20 120 120 120 120 120 5

Creative Approach: We can easily discover some unique characteristics in the four given fractions, each
numerator equals to 1 and the denominator can be written as 1 2, 2 3, 3 4, 4 5, that is; each denominator
can be expressed as the product of two consecutive counting numbers, then each fraction can be split as the
difference of two fractions as follow:
1
1
1

1 ,
2 1 2
2

1
1
1 1

,
6 23 2 3

1
1
1 1

,
12 3 4 3 4

1
1
1 1

.
20 4 5 4 5

1 1 1
1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 4

1 1 .
2 6 12 20
2 2 3 3 4 4 5
5 5

Example 4:
Simplify:

2
2
2
2

.
3 5 5 7 7 9 9 11

Creative Approach: In this problem, the numerator of each fraction is 2 while the numerator is can be expressed
as the product of two consecutive odd counting numbers and each fraction can be split as the difference of two
fractions as follow:
2
1 1
,
3 5 3 5

2
1 1
,
5 7 5 7

2
1 1
,
79 7 9

2
1 1
.
9 11 9 11

2
2
2
2
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
8

.
3 5 5 7 7 9 9 11 3 5 5 7 7 9 9 11 3 11 33

Practice Set 1
1. Write

1
as the sum of two distinct unit fractions.
18

2. Write

1
as the sum of three distinct unit fractions.
10

3. Write

1
as the sum of four distinct unit fractions.
15

4. Perform the indicated operation.

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.

1 1 1
1
1

2 6 12 20 30
1
1
1
1

12 20 30 42
1
1
1
1
1

1 4 4 7 7 10 10 13 13 16
1 1
1
1

8 24 48 80
1
1
1
1
1

1 3 3 5 5 7 7 9 9 11
1 1
1
1

3 15 35 63
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

12 20 30 42 56 72 90
1
1
1
1

...
1 6 6 11 11 16
51 56
1
1
1
1

10 40 88 154
0.7777 0.7 0.1111 2.1
3
5

2
5

k. 3 25 37.9 6

2
5

l.
m.
n.
o.
p.
q
r.
s.
t.
u.

9
1
11
6
3 5 2
13
9
13
13
137
1
139
137 1
138
138
1 1 1 1 1
1
2 4 8 16 32
1
1
1

1 1

1
1
1
... 1
1 1 1 ...
1 1
2
4
6
10
3
5
9

1
1
1
1
90 9 1 900 9000
2
4
8
16
1
1
1
1

1
1

1 1 1
1 ... 1 1
2
3
99

2
3
99
1 2 3 7 14 21
1 3 5 7 21 35
1 2 3 4 5 6 5 4 3 2 1
666666 666666
1 2 3 2 4 6 4 8 12 7 14 21
1 3 5 2 6 10 4 12 20 7 21 35
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
777777 777777
4