When calculating half of a fraction, you are finding a fraction of a fraction. Fractions are composed of two integers, one stacked upon the other with a dash separating them. These two numbers - the top one termed the numerator and the bottom the denominator - make up a single value equal to less than one when the numerator is less than the denominator. You can halve a fraction through operations with its numerator and denominator.
Reduce the fraction to be halved to its lowest terms. To reduce or simplify the fraction, you need to eliminate the numerator and denominator's greatest common factor, or the largest value that both share as factors. For an example, using the fraction 8/10, the factors of the numerator 8 are 1, 2, 4 and 8, and the factors of the denominator 10 are 1, 2, 5 and 10. For the numbers 8 and 10, the greatest common factor is 2. Eight divided by (8/2) equals 4 and 10/2 equals 5, so 8/10 reduced equals 4/5.
Divide the reduced fraction's numerator by 2 if it is even. To halve 4/5, divide the numerator 4 by 2 and the final fraction is 2/5.
Multiply the reduce fraction's denominator by 2 if the numerator is odd. As an example, the fraction 1/3 has an odd numerator. Multiply the denominator of 3 by 2 and the final fraction is 1/6.
References
About the Author
Chance E. Gartneer began writing professionally in 2008 working in conjunction with FEMA. He has the unofficial record for the most undergraduate hours at the University of Texas at Austin. When not working on his children's book masterpiece, he writes educational pieces focusing on early mathematics and ESL topics.
Photo Credits
Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images