Maths

i really think you would benefit from some face to face tuition and as others have said some visual/practical aids
lots of colleges and some community organisations offer basic level courses in maths and literacy
what college course is it? is it an access course?

I wondered about dyscalculia too. But it’s really quite rare and IME many diagnoses of dyscalculia are actually something else (dyslexic type issues, not to do with a lack of a sense of number). I think I’ve only encountered four or five unmistakeable cases over many years.

Fractions show how many equal parts something has been divided into.

it doesn't matter if its cake, pizza or a number.

If you have 1/3 it has been divided into three equal parts and you have one of those parts. If you have 2/3 then it has been divided into three equal parts and you have two of those parts. If you have 3/3 you have all three parts which is the same as the whole cake or pizza or number.

If you have 1/5 then that means your cake/pizza/whatever has been cut into 5 equal parts and you have one of those parts

etc

don't understand 1/3. I think that would have to be 1 out of 3 parts but it can be 1/3 out out of 10 parts

It is 1 out of 3 parts.

10 items (people, parts of cake any thing of 10)- you put into groups of three.

10 divided by three is 3 and 1 reminder = equal to three groups of three and one left out.

So 10 divdied (put into groups) by three is 3 and one third (one third is that remainder divided into three and added to the group) which in decimals is 3.3.

So 1/3 of 10 is 3 and one third = 3.3 be that that people/peices of cake or bits of pizza.

Percentage is out of 100.

So 100 people,cats slices of pizza - 1/3 of 100 is found by putting into three groups/divided.

So each group has 33 and the remainer is 1.

(3 lots of 33 is 99 add one make 100)
so each group is 33 and 1/3.

so 33 1/3 or 33.3 (the 3 is reoccuring but trounding means ignore that so 33.33333 with 3 on forever ) or 33%

2/3 is two lots of the three - so 66 2/3 - decimal 66.7 (rounding up as it's 66.66666 with 6 just going on) or 67% (again rounding up)

It probably much easier to go to so,e of the recommnded webpages listen to their explinations and work through a few examples.

Im not reading the posts obviously, its too early for me..

Snork!

Just to add that 1/3 of the cake can be a completely different weight or size to a third of the pizza. Because the thing you're cutting up is a different size. It only relates to the thing you're dividing into bits. They're both still called 1/3 tho.

Like half loaf is bigger than half a muffin.

Is 1/3 of a cake the same as 1/3 of a pizza if you want 1/3?
It's not about weight or volume.

Exactly.

1/3 of a cake means you've cut 3 equal slices and one of those is called 1/3.

If you cut four equal slices, one would be 1/4. If you grabbed two of those slices you'd have 2/4.

Doesn't matter how big the cake is or if it's a pizza or whatever, as long as each slice is the same. It's no good cutting three unequal pieces, they have to be equal.

What a wonderful thread

I was just thinking that

Im not reading the posts obviously, its too early for me

Fractions are an abstract concept and it is very hard to grasp without physical learning too. It is about proportion, not quantity. 1/3 means that’s whole is split into 3 pieces and 1 piece is taken. 2/3 means of 3 pieces, 2 are taken.
3/5 means the whole is split into 5 and 3 pieces taken etc.
You need to spend time looking at it practically.

greentulips what you’ve written talking about percentages is a bit confusing...

So you divide 100 pennies by the bottom number 100/2 is 0.5
100/5 is 0.20

100/4 is 0.25
So 3/4 would be 100/4 (0.25) x 3 0.75

Those calculations aren’t correct. Did you mean 100/2 = 50 and 100/4 = 25 to show that 1/2 = 50%, 1/4 = 25% and 3/4 = 75%?

I know nothing about the OP.
Given their posting times, is it possible that they are not in Europe?

@Oncewasblueandyellowtwo have you ever heard of Dyscalculia?
It's a specific learning difficulty that makes it harder to learn Maths. In the same way that Dyslexia makes it harder to learn how to read.

Doesn't mean that you can't learn it. But you might need specific help to tutor you.

www.factmonster.com/math-science/mathematics/converting-fractions-decimals-and-percents

www.factmonster.com/math-science/mathematics/common-fractions-with-decimal-and-percent-equivalents

Mathsfactor is currently free it has sections on fractions, decimal fractions, percentages and ratios - it's videos of Carol Vordaman expalin concepts, doing worked example then giving you 20 questions - then next video builds on the ideas so it slowly build up concepts. It's very good and covers all areas of arithmetic -so good for build confidence in all areas.

As others have said Bitesized and Khan academy are also good sites to look at - they're always free.

OP do you have trouble with "half" too?

Or is it just "third" that is confusing?

You see, when in this situation myself, my way out of it is to start with something similar and work from that.

So, I get what half a cake, half a hundred or half an hour is....so then I just extrapolate with a third or a fifth or whatever.

Hope this helps but if I've just made it more confusing then sorry!

(I too am interested in how feminism impacts on this.)

It's hard sometimes to pick these things up if you never quite got them in the first place.
there are websites the kids use at school like Mymaths, /BBC bitesize; if you get past the cartoons they explain it very clearly and give you practice questions. Key stage 2 (up to 11 year olds) should cover fractions if I remember. good luck!

Percentages ar easier if you think of it as a £1

So half of £1 is 0.5
A quarter of £1 is 0.25
3/4 of a £1 is (25 x 3) 0.75
1/5 of £1 is 0.20

So you divide 100 pennies by the bottom number 100/2 is 0.5
100/5 is 0.20

100/4 is 0.25
So 3/4 would be 100/4 (0.25) x 3 0.75

What an unusual thread to have in feminism.

To supplement the excellent info you have already been given:
a) You can get calculators these days that actually do fractions. Look for one marked suitable for GCSE.
b) '1/3' is the same as '1 divided by 3'
c) In maths 'of' means 'times'
d) So '1/3 of 10' means 1/3 x 10 = 10/3 = 3&1/3

(Percentages just means out of 100. It makes things made up of different amounts easier to compare.)

Oncewasblueandyellowtwo BBC Bitesize is a good source too. In normal times I’d say that you could get help at your local further education college. I am fairly sure that Level 2 courses in English and maths are free. Some of them will be doing online courses now (or did them already). That would mean you have some help
before taking the exam.

You need to understand that 1/3 can be thought of in different ways

• As a chunk of something (so 1/3 of a cake, a cake split three ways)
• As a number on the number line (so a number between 0 and 1, but nearer to 0)
• As the number 1 divided by 3 (which gives you the decimal equivalent)

It’s easier to think of one half (1/2) to get an idea. 1/2 of a cake is easy to visualise. 1/2 is the number exactly between 0 and 1. 1 divided by 2 gives you 0.5, the decimal equivalent of one half.

Our decimal system and the prevalent use of calculators does seem to make fractions tricky for lots of people. I get asked your question very frequently.

And as pp have said, the way to find 1/3 of any quantity is to divide it by 3, same as to find 1/2 you divide by 2, 1/5 you divide by 5 and so on.

Check out 'mathantics' and 'how to do math' on Youtube. They have excellent videos that cover school level mathematics.

The fraction deals with the numbers part exactly the same.
So it doesn't matter what it's measuring in (g, lbs, mm, kg, bottles, £ etc), just remember that whatever the question is talking about you use that unit for the answer after dealing with the numbers.
Example: if it's 1/3 of 9 apples make sure you write 3apples not 3cm.

Hope that helps you to see how the numbers part and whatever it's measured in can be split into two thought processes.