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🔢 Ordering Fractions

Compare and line up fractions using same-size pieces, the one-half landmark, and common bottoms.

3
lessons
~15 min
to learn
🔢 Math
subject
Ages 6–12
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. Same Bottom or Same TopCompare fractions that share a numerator or a denominator.Two shortcuts speed up comparing. When the bottoms match, the fraction with the bigger top is larger. When the tops match, the fraction with the smaller bottom is larger, because the pieces are bigger.
  2. Compare to One HalfCompare a fraction to 1/2 and place fractions on a number line.Comparing to 1/2 tells you at a glance whether a fraction is small or large: if the top is less than half the bottom it is under a half, and if more, over a half. A number line then places fractions in size order between 0 and 1.
  3. Order by a Common BottomOrder several fractions using a common denominator.To order fractions with different bottoms, rewrite them all with a common denominator, then compare the tops. Using twelfths, 1/2 = 6/12, 2/3 = 8/12, and 3/4 = 9/12, so the order is 1/2, 2/3, 3/4.

Questions this course answers

Which is largest: 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4?

With the same top of 1, the smallest bottom makes the biggest piece: 1/2.

With the same bottom, which is bigger: 3/5 or 4/5?

Same-size pieces, so more of them wins: 4/5 is bigger.

Is 2/5 less than or more than 1/2?

2 is less than half of 5, so 2/5 is under one half.

Rewrite 2/3 with a bottom of 12.

Multiply top and bottom by 4: 2/3 = 8/12.

Ordering 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 smallest first, which comes first?

1/4 is the smallest of the three, so it comes first.

Which is smallest: 6/12, 8/12, 9/12?

Same bottom, so the smallest top wins: 6/12.

Grounded in trusted sources

  • Khan Academy
  • Britannica Kids
  • Math is Fun (mathsisfun.com)
  • NCTM Illuminations

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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