38 alGebra De mystif ieD
• Simplify compound fractions. Rewrite the compound fraction as a division
problem and then as a multiplication problem. After this is done, find the
product.
• Write a mixed number as an improper fraction and an improper fraction as
a mixed number. Write a mixed number as an improper fraction by mul-
tiplying the whole number by the denominator and then adding the
numerator of the fraction. This gives us the numerator of the improper
fraction. The improper fraction has the same denominator as the original
fraction. Write an improper fraction as a mixed number by dividing the
numerator by the denominator. The quotient is the whole number part of
the mixed number, and the numerator of the fraction part is the remain-
der while the denominator is the same as the original denominator.
• Perform arithmetic with mixed numbers. One method is to convert the
mixed number to an improper fraction and then use one of the strategies
outlined above to perform the arithmetic.
• Translate certain English sentences and phrases into mathematical symbols.In Chapter 2, we will extend what we learned in Chapter 1 to include fractions
having variables in them and English sentences that have unknown quantities
in them.