Fractions, not something I’ve really looked at since my school days. However with home schooling currently taking place here in the UK due to another Coronavirus lockdown, it is something that I’ve been refreshing my knowledge on this week.
Note: https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/math/fractions.php provides an online calculator to help with fractions. The site also provides the formulas to help with fraction mathematics, which I’m also using in this Python program.
Whilst relearning about fractions I decided to create a Python program so that I could double check my learnings and get a better understanding of the formulas involved. The program needs some work as I repeat a few lines in each function and I will be looking to change my simplification method so that it does more than try dividing by 2.
# geektechstuff fractions
# Requires Python3.6 or above for f’ string usage
def main():
print(“Welcome to GeekTechStuff Fractions Calculator”)
print(” 1 = Addition \n 2 = Subtraction \n 3 = Multiplication \n 4 = Division”)
calc_mode = input (“Which mode would you like to use: “)
# try / except to catch any non-intergers or numbers other than 1 to 4
try:
calc_mode = int(calc_mode)
if (calc_mode > 0 and calc_mode < 5):
print(f”You chose {calc_mode}”)
# each calc_mode calls on a function below
if calc_mode==1:
return(addition())
if calc_mode==2:
return(subtract())
if calc_mode==3:
return(multiply())
if calc_mode==4:
return(divide())
else:
print(f”Sorry I did not understand {calc_mode}”)
return()
else:
print(f”Sorry I did not understand {calc_mode}”)
return()
except:
print(f’You choice of {calc_mode}, caused an error. Is {calc_mode} a whole number in the range of 1 to 4?’)
return ()
def addition():
print(“Enter your fraction as: a over b and c over d, e.g. a/b + c/d”)
print(“Each variable should be a whole number.”)
a = input(“Value for a is: “)
b = input(“Value for b is: “)
c = input(“Value for c is: “)
d = input(“Value for d is: “)
try:
a = int(a)
b = int(b)
c = int(c)
d = int(d)
value_top_left = a*d
value_top_right = b*c
value_bottom = b*d
print(f”The equation orginally looked like {a}/{b} + {c}/{d}, it now looks like ({value_top_left} + {value_top_right}) / {value_bottom}”)
value_top = value_top_left + value_top_right
print(f”The equation then becomes {value_top}/{value_bottom}”)
if ((value_top % 2 == 0) and (value_bottom % 2 == 0)):
value_top_divide_by_2 = value_top/2
value_top = int(value_top_divide_by_2)
value_bottom_divide_by_2 = value_bottom/2
value_bottom = int(value_bottom_divide_by_2)
print(f”The equation can be simplified to: {value_top}/{value_bottom}’s”)
else:
print(f”Sorry I could not simplify this equation”)
fraction_to_whole(value_top,value_bottom)
except:
print(f’Are {a},{b},{c},{d} all whole numbers?’)
def divide():
print(“Enter your fraction as: a over b and c over d, e.g. a/b / c/d”)
print(“Each variable should be a whole number.”)
a = input(“Value for a is: “)
b = input(“Value for b is: “)
c = input(“Value for c is: “)
d = input(“Value for d is: “)
try:
a = int(a)
b = int(b)
c = int(c)
d = int(d)
value_top = a*d
value_bottom = b*c
print(f”The equation orginally looked like {a}/{b} / {c}/{d}, it now looks like {value_top} / {value_bottom}”)
if ((value_top % 2 == 0) and (value_bottom % 2 == 0)):
value_top_divide_by_2 = value_top/2
value_top = int(value_top_divide_by_2)
value_bottom_divide_by_2 = value_bottom/2
value_bottom = int(value_bottom_divide_by_2)
print(f”The equation can be simplified to: {value_top}/{value_bottom}’s”)
else:
print(f”Sorry I could not simplify this equation”)
fraction_to_whole(value_top,value_bottom)
except:
print(f’Are {a},{b},{c},{d} all whole numbers?’)
def multiply():
print(“Enter your fraction as: a over b and c over d, e.g. a/b x c/d”)
print(“Each variable should be a whole number.”)
a = input(“Value for a is: “)
b = input(“Value for b is: “)
c = input(“Value for c is: “)
d = input(“Value for d is: “)
try:
a = int(a)
b = int(b)
c = int(c)
d = int(d)
value_top = a*c
value_bottom = b*d
print(f”The equation orginally looked like {a}/{b} x {c}/{d}, it now looks like {value_top} / {value_bottom}”)
if ((value_top % 2 == 0) and (value_bottom % 2 == 0)):
value_top_divide_by_2 = value_top/2
value_top = int(value_top_divide_by_2)
value_bottom_divide_by_2 = value_bottom/2
value_bottom = int(value_bottom_divide_by_2)
print(f”The equation can be simplified to: {value_top}/{value_bottom}’s”)
else:
print(f”Sorry I could not simplify this equation”)
fraction_to_whole(value_top,value_bottom)
except:
print(f’Are {a},{b},{c},{d} all whole numbers?’)
def subtract():
print(“Enter your fraction as: a over b and c over d, e.g. a/b – c/d”)
print(“Each variable should be a whole number.”)
a = input(“Value for a is: “)
b = input(“Value for b is: “)
c = input(“Value for c is: “)
d = input(“Value for d is: “)
try:
a = int(a)
b = int(b)
c = int(c)
d = int(d)
value_top_left = a*d
value_top_right = b*c
value_bottom = b*d
print(f”The equation orginally looked like {a}/{b} – {c}/{d}, it now looks like ({value_top_left} – {value_top_right}) / {value_bottom}”)
value_top = value_top_left – value_top_right
print(f”The equation then becomes {value_top}/{value_bottom}”)
if ((value_top % 2 == 0) and (value_bottom % 2 == 0)):
value_top_divide_by_2 = value_top/2
value_top = int(value_top_divide_by_2)
value_bottom_divide_by_2 = value_bottom/2
value_bottom = int(value_bottom_divide_by_2)
print(f”The equation can be simplified to: {value_top}/{value_bottom}’s”)
else:
print(f”Sorry I could not simplify this equation”)
fraction_to_whole(value_top,value_bottom)
except:
print(f’Are {a},{b},{c},{d} all whole numbers?’)
def fraction_to_whole(fraction_part_a, fraction_part_b):
if fraction_part_a > fraction_part_b:
divided = fraction_part_a / fraction_part_b
divided = int(divided)
modulus = fraction_part_a % fraction_part_b
print(f”And simplified again to {divided} and {modulus}/{fraction_part_b}’s”)
else:
print(f”I believe the answer is {fraction_part_a}/{fraction_part_b}”)
main()
If you want to know more about fractions then please check out the BBC Bitesize resources available at:
Keystage 1 – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z3rbg82
Keystage 2 – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zhdwxnb
Keystage 3 – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zt6p34j/revision/1
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