Choose a fraction.
Fill it with 2 or 3 pie slices.
2/3
3/4
2/5
3/5
4/5
5/6
2/7
3/7
4/7
5/7
6/7 (-)
3/8
5/8
7/8
2/9
4/9
5/9
7/9
8/9
3/10
7/10
9/10
2/11 (-)
3/11 (-)
4/11 (-)
5/11 (-)
6/11 (-)
7/11 (-)
8/11 (-)
9/11 (-)
10/11 (-)
5/12 (-)
7/12 (-)
11/12 (-)
2/13 (-)
3/13 (-)
4/13 (-)
5/13 (-)
6/13 (-)
7/13 (-)
8/13 (-)
9/13 (-)
10/13 (-)
11/13 (-)
12/13 (-)
3/14 (-)
5/14 (-)
9/14 (-)
11/14 (-)
13/14 (-)
2/15 (-)
4/15 (-)
7/15 (-)
8/15 (-)
11/15 (-)
13/15 (-)
14/15 (-)
3/16 (-)
5/16 (-)
7/16 (-)
9/16 (-)
11/16 (-)
13/16 (-)
15/16 (-)
0
1/1
1/2
1/3
1/4
1/5
1/6
1/7
1/8
1/9
1/10
1/11
1/12
1/13
1/14
1/15
1/16
1/17
1/18
1/19
1/20
1/21
1/22
1/23
1/24
1/25
1/26
1/27
1/28
1/29 (-)
1/30 (-)
1/31 (-)
1/32 (-)
1/33 (-)
1/34 (-)
1/35 (-)
1/36 (-)
1/37 (-)
1/38 (-)
1/39 (-)
1/40 (-)
1/41 (-)
1/42 (-)
1/43 (-)
1/44 (-)
1/45 (-)
1/46 (-)
1/47 (-)
1/48 (-)
1/49 (-)
1/50 (-)
1/51 (-)
1/52 (-)
1/53 (-)
1/54 (-)
1/55 (-)
1/56 (-)
1/57 (-)
1/58 (-)
1/59 (-)
1/60 (-)
1/61 (-)
1/62 (-)
1/63 (-)
1/64 (-)
0
1/1
1/2
1/3
1/4
1/5
1/6
1/7
1/8
1/9
1/10
1/11
1/12
1/13
1/14
1/15
1/16
1/17
1/18
1/19
1/20
1/21
1/22
1/23
1/24
1/25
1/26
1/27
1/28
1/29 (-)
1/30 (-)
1/31 (-)
1/32 (-)
1/33 (-)
1/34 (-)
1/35 (-)
1/36 (-)
1/37 (-)
1/38 (-)
1/39 (-)
1/40 (-)
1/41 (-)
1/42 (-)
1/43 (-)
1/44 (-)
1/45 (-)
1/46 (-)
1/47 (-)
1/48 (-)
1/49 (-)
1/50 (-)
1/51 (-)
1/52 (-)
1/53 (-)
1/54 (-)
1/55 (-)
1/56 (-)
1/57 (-)
1/58 (-)
1/59 (-)
1/60 (-)
1/61 (-)
1/62 (-)
1/63 (-)
1/64 (-)
0
1/1
1/2
1/3
1/4
1/5
1/6
1/7
1/8
1/9
1/10
1/11
1/12
1/13
1/14
1/15
1/16
1/17
1/18
1/19
1/20
1/21
1/22
1/23
1/24
1/25
1/26
1/27
1/28
1/29 (-)
1/30 (-)
1/31 (-)
1/32 (-)
1/33 (-)
1/34 (-)
1/35 (-)
1/36 (-)
1/37 (-)
1/38 (-)
1/39 (-)
1/40 (-)
1/41 (-)
1/42 (-)
1/43 (-)
1/44 (-)
1/45 (-)
1/46 (-)
1/47 (-)
1/48 (-)
1/49 (-)
1/50 (-)
1/51 (-)
1/52 (-)
1/53 (-)
1/54 (-)
1/55 (-)
1/56 (-)
1/57 (-)
1/58 (-)
1/59 (-)
1/60 (-)
1/61 (-)
1/62 (-)
1/63 (-)
1/64 (-)
(-) extra problems and solutions not found at Old Egyptian Math Cats Fractions
Old Egyptian Math Cats
Fractions
Old Egyptian Math Cats knew fractions like 1/2 or 1/4
(one piece of a pie). But to make fractions like 3/4,
they had to add pieces of pies
like 1/2 + 1/4 = 3/4.
Old Egyptian Math cats never repeated the same fraction when adding.
They never wrote:
1/4 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 3/4
Add fractions like a true Old Egyptian Math Cat!
Choose puzzles from the list on the top. ( * = easier, **** = very hard.)
Add 2 or 3 fraction pieces below.
After you find one solution, the puzzle is marked "Solved."
Can you find more solutions? (Click to see them listed on the bottom.)
~ This
can help you! ~
>
Can you build this fraction?
+
+
=
>
0
1/1
1/2
1/3
1/4
1/5
1/6
1/7
1/8
1/9
1/10
1/11
1/12
1/13
1/14
1/15
1/16
1/17
1/18
1/19
1/20
1/21
1/22
1/23
1/24
1/25
1/26
1/27
1/28
+
>
0
1/1
1/2
1/3
1/4
1/5
1/6
1/7
1/8
1/9
1/10
1/11
1/12
1/13
1/14
1/15
1/16
1/17
1/18
1/19
1/20
1/21
1/22
1/23
1/24
1/25
1/26
1/27
1/28
+
>
0
1/1
1/2
1/3
1/4
1/5
1/6
1/7
1/8
1/9
1/10
1/11
1/12
1/13
1/14
1/15
1/16
1/17
1/18
1/19
1/20
1/21
1/22
1/23
1/24
1/25
1/26
1/27
1/28
=
>
Ancient Egyptians really did write fractions this way!
Instead of writing 2/5, they wrote 1/3 + 1/15. For 2/7, they wrote 1/4 + 1/28.
Some of the fractions were very complicated.
For 2/29, they wrote 1/24 + 1/58 + 1/174 + 1/232 !
How do we know about Egyptian fractions? The written record goes all the way back to 1650 B.C.: the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus contains a table of Egyptian fractions copied from another papyrus 200 years older. Ancient Egyptians needed to understand a lot of complex mathematics to create a table like this. We know they used this system for over 2,000 years... but we don't know why!
part of the Rhind papyrus
You can learn more about Egyptian fractions through the links below.
(These pages are for "older cats"!)
The Rhind Papyrus 2/N Table
Egyptian Fractions (with many links)
Egyptian Fraction - from Eric Weisstein's MathWorld"
The Horus Eye
Old Egyptian Math Cats Fractions © copyright 2003 - 2004 - Wendy Petti of
mathcats.com
& Maurici Carbó Jordi of
nummolt.com
.
Old Egyptian Math Cat image (drawn for Math Cats) © copyright 2003 -
Boni Córdoba
.
All rights reserved.
