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Comparing fractions

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Comparing fractions [#permalink] New post 06 Jan 2010, 21:32
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Just want to point out something that I discovered today while studying PS. In questions that ask you to compare fractions, the trick is often not to compare them directly via converting all the fractions to have a common denominator. For example, when you are asked to find the biggest and smallest # in

\frac{5}{9}, \frac{5}{12}, \frac{23}{48}, \frac{11}{24}, \frac{3}{7}

the trick is to recognize that these numbers are all close to \frac{1}{2}, so you just have to find the difference between the numbers and \frac{1}{2}.

\frac{5}{9} is > than 0.5, biggest #

\frac{5}{12}: distance is \frac{1}{12}

\frac{23}{48}: distance is \frac{1}{48}

\frac{11}{24}: distance is \frac{1}{24}

\frac{3}{7}: distance is \frac{1}{14}

since \frac{1}{12} is the largest number, \frac{5}{12} is the smallest #.

Hope this is helpful for others to recognize this pattern.
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Re: Comparing fractions [#permalink] New post 01 Feb 2010, 10:42
Great logic!! But not sure if this is useful in all problems. I'll definitely start using it and will let you know my experience in few days.

Thanks for sharing!! :)
Re: Comparing fractions   [#permalink] 01 Feb 2010, 10:42
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