Simplifying Complex Fractions Calculator

Simplifying complex fractions can be a hassle for anyone. These fractions are complicated, and it’s hard to use them in simple calculations.

However, with the help of our simplifying complex fraction calculator, you can do your calculation correctly and in no time.

Do you want to find out how to simplify complex fractions? Well, you’ve come to the right place!

How to Simplify Complex Fractions?

Before we begin, you need to understand what a complex fraction is.

A complex fraction is basically where the numerator, the denominator, or both of them contain fractions. In other words, it’s a fraction within a fraction.

For example, 3/(1/5) is a complex fraction in which the numerator is 3 and the denominator is 1/5.

Generally, there are 2 methods to simplify a complex fraction. Let’s check them out.

Method 1

In this method, you’ll create one fraction from both the numerator and the denominator.

This can be done by applying the division rule and multiplying the top part of the fraction by the reciprocal bottom part. The reciprocal of a fraction like X/Y is simply Y/X.

After that, you’ll need to simplify the resulting fraction.

For example, 6/(2/3) needs to be simplified. You can start by rewriting the fraction as multiplication by a reciprocal.

So, the 6 / (2/3) will be 6 × (3/2), which equals 18/2.

Finally, after simplifying the result, it’ll be 9.

That means 6/(2/3) equals 9.

But what happens when you have a fraction as the numerator and the denominator?

To simply (1/3)/(2/4), you’ll need to multiply the top by the reciprocal of the bottom, which is 4/2.

Therefore:

1/3 × 4/2 = 4/6

Then, to simplify the result, you need to find the greatest common factor (GCF) and simplify the fraction. So, the final result will be 2/3.

Method 2

In the second method, you can start by figuring out the least common multiply of each denominator in the fraction.

After that, you’ll need to multiply the fraction’s numerator and denominator by this number. Finally, you’ll need to simplify the result if it’s necessary.

For example, (5/2)/(2/4) is a complex fraction that you need to simplify.

First, you’ll need to calculate the least common multiple of the denominator, which is 4.

Then, you’ll need to multiply both the complex fraction’s numerator and denominator by this number.

(5/2 × 4) / (2/4 × 4) = 10/2

Finally, you can simplify the result if it’s necessary, like in this case, 10/2 = 5.

If this seems complicated to you, or in case you have a problem simplifying fractions, you can check Calcopolis for many helpful tools and calculators.

Conclusion

Complex fractions are, as the name suggests, complex and hard to use in a calculation. So, you might need to simplify or reduce the complex fraction.

This is where our simplifying complex fractions calculator comes in handy! This tool will save you a lot of time and effort, just like many of our Calcopolis tools!

Similar tools

Depending on your needs, there are other ways of simplifying complex fractions. You could either convert a fraction to a percentage value or turn a fraction into a decimal.

Percentages are helpful when preparing reports. If you want to make sure you will make sure you are doing everything correctly with percentage calculations, use our percentage calculator.

Alternatively, you may simplify numbers using our rounding tool or convert ratio to fraction.

Authors

Created by Lucas Krysiak on 2022-12-23 11:36:58 | Last review by Mike Kozminsky on 2024-04-10 12:32:03