\(\displaystyle \boxed{\frac{3}{8}\text{ of a pizza}}\)
Example 2 – Find Fractions of a Whole Number
Two brothers had 24 oranges. The first brother ate one-third of the oranges, and the second brother ate one-fourth of the oranges. How many oranges did they eat altogether?
Rule: When a fraction describes part of a number or amount, the word of usually means multiply.
Example A:
\(\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}\text{ of }\frac{3}{4}=\frac{1}{2}\times\frac{3}{4}\)
Example B:
\(\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}\text{ of }24=\frac{1}{3}\times24\)
Example C:
\(\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}\text{ of }24=\frac{1}{4}\times24\)
Important clue phrases:
of
part of
fraction of
half of
one-third of
one-fourth of
Main Takeaway:
When you see a fraction of a quantity, translate the word “of” into multiplication.
🧠 Math Vocabulary
Of: in many word problems, this signals multiplication.
Fraction of a number: part of a whole amount found by multiplying.
Whole: the total amount before taking a fraction of it.
Product: the answer to a multiplication problem.
Visual model: a drawing or grid that helps show part of an amount.
💡 Main Idea
This lesson shows that in word problems, a fraction of a number usually means multiplication. Students learn to translate phrases like “half of what remained” or “one-third of 24” into multiplication expressions and then solve them using fraction multiplication or fraction-of-a-number strategies.
📚 What You Should Already Know
Before watching this video, students should know how to multiply fractions, how to write a whole number as a fraction over 1, and how to interpret a shaded model as part of a whole. It also helps if they are already comfortable identifying keywords in word problems.
🚀 What Comes Next
After multiplying fractions in word problems, students can move into multi-step fraction problems, mixed operations with fractions, and applications involving recipes, measurement, and proportional reasoning.
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