How do you multiply fractions?

Question

How do you multiply fractions?

Answer 1

Evaluate (9 / 4) * (14 / 15).

Rewrite as a single fraction with 9 * 14 on top and 4 * 15 underneath.

You can make the multiplication easier by removing common factors from top and bottom.

9 and 15 both divide by 3.

You can replace the 9 with 3 and the 15 with 5.

14 and 4 both divide by 2.

You can replace the 14 with 7 and the 4 with 2.

You now have (3 * 7) / (2 * 5).

Multiplying the numbers on top gives 21, and multiplying the numbers below gives 10.

Result 21 / 10.

If you wish, you can divide the 10 into the 21, giving 2 1/10.

A simpler example:

(2 / 3) * (2 / 3) = 4 / 9.

This site covers the subject in much greater depth:

http://www.aaamath.com/fra.htm

Answer 2

You just simply multiply across, like this: 2/3 x 2/3 would equal 4/6

because 2x2=4 and 3x3=6