Skills Needed for Success

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • Convert between mixed numbers and improper fractions.
  • Locate and order fractions and mixed numbers on the number line.
  • Perform multiplication, division, addition and subtraction on mixed numbers.
  • Simplify and evaluate complex fractions.
  • Simplify expressions with a fraction bar.

Working with measurements often requires converting from one unit of measurement to another. You may need to covert feet to miles or ounces to gallons in the U.S. customary measurement system, or centimeters to meters or milligrams to grams in the metric system. These sorts of calculations use fractions and mixed numbers to describe quantities, so you’ll need be familiar with performing operations on them. While you are studying mixed numbers and fractions, it will be a good opportunity for you to gain experience simplifying other kinds of expressions containing fraction bars and complex fractions (fractions containing fractions).

Recall for success

Look for red boxes like this one throughout the text. They’ll show up just in time to give helpful reminders of the math you’ll need, right where you’ll need it.

If you already feel confident in the skills listed above, you can skip directly to the content for this module. Skip the Skills