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Have you ever wondered how much space a picture frame takes up if its sides aren't whole numbers? Or maybe you're trying to figure out the area of a garden plot with some unusual measurements? Well, you've stumbled upon the right place! We're about to unlock the mystery of calculating the area of a rectangle with fractions using simple multiplication.
Let's imagine your favorite picture needs a new frame. You measure the sides and find out it's 5/9 of a meter tall and 7/8 of a meter wide. How do you figure out the area to make sure you buy the right size frame?
Here's the secret formula:
Area of a rectangle = Width x Height
That's it! Now, let's plug in our measurements:
- Width: 7/8 of a meter
- Height: 5/9 of a meter
So, the calculation looks like this:
(7/8 meter) x (5/9 meter)
Now, multiplying fractions is like a fun little dance:
- Multiply the top numbers (numerators): 7 x 5 = 35
- Multiply the bottom numbers (denominators): 8 x 9 = 72
This gives us: 35/72 square meters
And there you have it! The area of your picture frame is 35/72 square meters.
But wait, what does that actually look like?
Think of it like dividing your picture frame into tiny squares. Each square represents a small piece of the total area. In this case, we've divided the frame into 72 equal parts (that's our denominator). The area of your picture frame covers 35 of those tiny squares (that's our numerator).
Let's break it down visually:
Imagine dividing the width of the frame into 8 equal parts and the height into 9 equal parts. You'll notice that the entire frame is now divided into 72 smaller rectangles. Each of these tiny rectangles represents 1/72 of the total area. Since your picture frame's area is 35/72, it covers 35 of these tiny rectangles!
Key takeaway: Multiplying fractions to find the area of a rectangle is as easy as multiplying the numerators and then the denominators. And remember, visualizing the area as a grid of smaller squares can help you understand what those fractions really represent!
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