numerator

denominator

EXAMPLE

if an item has a total of 4 pieces and we are counting only 3 of those pieces, we would have 3/4.

Hieroglyphic fractions work a little differently than modern fractions. With hieroglyphic fractions the numerator is always assumed to be 1, only the denominator varies. Fractions use the same hieroglyph characters as numbers. Placing the symbol above or alongside number hieroglyphs shows the number is a fraction.

EXAMPLE

1/3 is written

To represent fractions with a numerator other than one, the Egyptians wrote several fractions which were added together to get the true fraction value.

EXAMPLE

3/4 is like saying 1/2 and 1/4