Multiplying and dividing mixed numbers
Use bars to see how multiplying and dividing mixed numbers works, and which operation comes first in a calculation.
- UK: Year 5
- France: grade 10
- Germany: grade 6
- Iran: grade 5
- Afghanistan: grade 5
- Syria: grade 7
- Palestine: grade 8
- Ukraine: grade 6
- Russia: grade 6
Guide
Each bar is one whole. 223 is 2 whole bars and 23 of another.
To multiply or divide mixed numbers, you can turn each one into an improper fraction: 212 = 52.
Careful: you can't just multiply the wholes together and the fractions together. All of the first number has to be multiplied by all of the second.
In a calculation with both addition and multiplication, multiply and divide first, then add and subtract.