Numerator and Denominator of a Fraction

We're asked to identify the
numerator and denominator in

the fraction 3 over 4, or 3/4.

So let's rewrite this just
so it's nice and big.

So let me just write
the fraction.

So we have 3 over 4, 3/4.

Now, they want us to identify
the numerator and the

denominator.

So the numerator is just the
number on top, so the

numerator is the
3 right there.

And then they want us to
find the denominator.

The denominator is just the
number on the bottom.

It's the 4.

So if they say what's
the numerator?

3.

What's the denominator?

It's 4, just the number
on the bottom.

They could've just called this
the number on the bottom.

They could've just called
this the number on top.

Now to think about what this
represents, what this fraction

represents, you can think
of it as three out of

four pieces of a pie.

That's how I think about it.

So you can imagine, the
denominator tells us, what are

we taking a fraction out of or
how many pieces are there?

So let's imagine a
pie like this.

So we could draw like
a square pie.

So this is what the denominator
represents.

This is what the number on
the bottom represents.

And then 3 says, we are
representing three of those

four pieces.

So this 3 tells us that out of
4 possible ones, I guess you

could think of it, we are using
three, or maybe we're

eating three.

So you can imagine if someone
says I ate three-fourths of a

pie-- this would be read as
three-fourths-- they're eating

the blue portion of the pie
if we cut it this way.

If we imagine a round pie,
it would look like this.

Let me draw a round pie.

So that is my round pie.

Let me cut it into four
equal pieces or

roughly equal pieces.

And if someone says I ate
three-fourths of this pie,

where the 3 is the numerator,
and then the 4, and you'd read

that as three-fourths, the 4 is
the denominator, they would

eat this much of the pie.

They would eat 3 of
the 4 pieces.

So this is is one piece, this
is two pieces, and this is

three pieces.

So you could imagine the 4, the
denominator represents the

total number of pieces in the
pie, and then the 3 represents

how many of those we ate.