Maths

[Oncewasblueandyellowtwo]

I'm looking for some maths help. I've applied to college as a mature student and have to take a test, one part of the test is numerical.
It is basic, multiplying, division, percentages.I don't understand percentages and need help with this mostly,i can multiply and divide with a calculator and understand it.Does anyone have maths tips?
example: I 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, but i have no idea how that is?

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

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!

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.)

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.

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

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

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.

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%?

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.

What a wonderful thread

I was just thinking that

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

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.

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.

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

Snork!

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.

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

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.

Thanks everyone, i was working today (In a shop on the tills funny enough!)So just catching up now.
SonEtLumiere
Yes i can multiply and divide by hand, slowly but just have to practice and that will OK. It's just the fractions and percentages that I hit a wall and get frustrated. Percentages are not as bad as fractions and i can manage them.
Dido
So at work if someone was buying bread i was calculating in my head what fraction they would have if the loaf was shared between 3 house mates. I did this a few times throughout the day., I just have to practice practice practice.
I really like the other examples posters have given ,like a pair of socks, cake etc, it really helps me to have an image.

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?

Dido
So at work if someone was buying bread i was calculating in my head what fraction they would have if the loaf was shared between 3 house mates

If the loaf is being shared by 3 people each gets one- third - 1/3 ; if by 4, each gets one quarter- 1/4; if by 5 each gets one fifth 1/5.

How you do it could be , for an unsliced loaf by judging by eye and slicing it into the right number of parts or if a flat mate is particularly uptight measuring its length and dividing its length by the number of people. For a sliced loaf- counting the total number of slices and dividing that figure by the number of people.

I agree with others that face to face tuition is needed. Again without being rude, your last question is I think showing you are struggling with the concept of what is a fraction and the same time over complicating it.

1/3 of an object is the same whatever that object is. 1/3 of an amount is different depending on the amount.
In my picture, 1/3 of the circle and the rectangle is the same, it means the object is split into 3 equal sized pieces, and 1/3 is one of those pieces.

With the numbers, to find 1/3, divide the number by 3
To find 2/3, first divide the number by 3 then multiply the answer by 2

a family of 5 and One pot of stew
if everyone gets equal sized portions, they each get 1/5th

the bottle of tylenol only has 3 tablets left.
you have a dreadful head ache and use two. you've used 2/3 (two out of three) and are left with 1/3 of what you started with.

math can be fun

if washing and drying dishes is one task and you only wash the dishes you have done 1/2 (one task out of two) of the job

Sorry, forgot the pic

Look at a fraction this way.
The bottom is how many equal pieces you cut the cake or pizza or cucumber into.
The top is how many you can eat...
1/3. You eat one piece.
2/3. You eat two pieces.
3/3. You get the whole cake.
4/3. You get four pieces..
However since your top number is higher that your bottom number you can take 3 pieces away to make one whole cake and 1/3.

I got an excellent book on maths recently.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1782069453/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8

Really helpful on just about every maths topic. To the point, clear and really explains the theory behind why you do what you do.

Look at a fraction this way.
The bottom is how many equal pieces you cut the cake or pizza or cucumber into.
The top is how many you can eat...
1/3. You eat one piece.
2/3. You eat two pieces.
3/3. You get the whole cake.
4/3. You get four pieces..
However since your top number is higher that your bottom number you can take 3 pieces away to make one whole cake and 1/3

Sorry but I think that might be a bit confusing. If you have four thirds of a cake you've got the whole cake and part of another random cake.

OP needs to find the explanation that clicks for her. Sometimes it's just saying it slightly differently that makes it slot into place.

She's mentioned the visual idea of socks etc helped.

So get 100 socks or similar and start moving them into physical piles. Good luck!