Once long, long ago (or last week, whichever you prefer), there lived a small newt known as Newton. Newton was an inquisitive fellow but not very quick on the uptake. So, he decided to ask his friend Van Gough the fish to teach him mathematics. However, Van Gough was busy cleaning the fish tank and could not help Newton. So Newton would ask someone else. He would ask the Alex. The Alex was busy doing her homework.
"Hello, the Alex," Newton called. "I was wondering if you could teach me about math."
But the Alex could not hear Newton's inquiry. Still determined, Newton set out on a quest. He would go to Greece, home of all the famous mathematicians.
Even with his skilled sailing, Newton got quite off course. In fact, he ended up in a frozen wasteland. Antarctica. Being optimistic, Newton decided to make do with what he had and find someone to help him in Antarctica. After some hiking, Newton stumbled upon a long, icy tunnel. It was enormous.
"How fascinating! This tunnel is at a perfect 30 degree angle and has a diameter of- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
In his observations, Newton had not looked where he was going and slipped into the tunnel, sliding down quickly. At the end he was catapulted into the air, crash-landing in the snow. Getting up groggily, he gasped. He was at the base of a giant temple!
"Incredible! An ancient temple! Ancient people knew all about math and numbers. I'm sure I can find something to help me." And so Newton climbed up the many stairs into the temple.
Inside the temple were carvings and statues and artifacts of all sorts. But no numbers. Newton pressed on. "There must be some-oof!" Newton had run into something. Or lack there of. Nothing was in front of him. Then…with a hiss, a figure formed before him. Newton had to look up, and nearly snap off his head, to see its face. The creature was about two feet taller than the Alex and twice as wide. It had yellow skin and a metal mask covered its face. The Predator!
"Woah…The Predator," said Newton. The Predator heard him. It knealt down and picked up the newt by the tail.
"Err, hello The Predator. I was wondering if you could help me."
"First tell me this: how did you get here?"
"Long story. I was trying to get to Greece. All the famous mathematicians live there, and I wanted to learn about math."
"No kidding? Well, I might be able to help you. In fact, I've worked with the Aztecs-"
"The who?"
"The Egyptians-"
"Wait, hold on-"
"And the Cambodians."
A look of utter stupidity crossed Newton's face. The Predator seemed annoyed. "Never mind. I'm sure I can tell you something. But first…" The Predator, still holding Newton by the tail, went off to another room.
"Oh, so this is where you keep the numbers," Newton observed. The room was covered in carvings of strange numbers.
"Indeed. Now, what do you want to know?"
"Well, I was wondering about fractions."
"Hmm…A bit difficult, but not impossible. Let us start with adding fractions."
The Predator moved over to a section of the wall. "We will start simple, with 2/5 + 1/5. Now, the denominator, that's the bottom number, is 5 in both fractions. Therefore, we will only worry about the top numbers. 2 + 1. I take it you know the answer. So, we put back the denominator to the answer to get 3/5. Understand?"
Newton nodded, making a mental note. Math wasn't so hard! The Alex was over exaggerating.
"Now it gets a bit harder. Let's say you have 3/5 + 5/6. The denominators are different in this problem. Therefore, we must find the Lowest Common Denominator, or LCD. To find the LCD, you must list the factors of each denominator. 5 is 5 and 1; 6 is 3 and 2. Then, multiply the factors. 123530. So, the LCD is 30. Understand?"
Newton nodded. This was getting harder…
"But we can't leave the numerators as they are. So what you need to do is find out how many times the denominator goes into 30. 5 goes into 30 6 times, so multiply the 3 by 6. 6 goes into 30 5 times, so multiply the 5 by 5. You will end up with 18/30 + 25/30. That is 43/30. Reduced it is 1 13/30. Does that make sense?"
"Yes."
"Good. Onto subtracting."
"Subtracting is much like adding. Let's start with 5/7 - 3/7. So, only using the numerators, do 5 - 3. Therefore, the answer is 2/7. The LCD rule still applies. Now to multiplying."
"That sounds hard."
"It's not really. We'll start easy, again, with 3/5 5/6."
"So now we do LCD."
"Nope. Not for multiplying. Just multiply straight across, 3 5 and 5 6."
"Oh, I see. Then the answer would be 15/30...that's ½."
"Indeed. Before I teach you about dividing fractions, you'll need to know what a reciprocal is. Let's say you have 4/5. The reciprocal would be 5/4. Got it?"
"Yup."
"Alright. Now then, onto division. Let's go with 4/5 / 7/8. You can't divide across, so here is what you do. Multiply 4/5 by the reciprocal of 7/8. Then you have 4/5 8/7. That would give you 32/35."
"Wow, thanks The Predator. I've learned a lot. I have to go now, the Alex is probably worried." And so Newton left for home, feeling very smart indeed.
On the way out of the temple, Newton was stopped by a large, black creature. An Alien.
"Halt," growled the Alien. "I will only let you pass if you answer my math problem."
"What if I don't?"
"Then I will eat you."
"Oh."
"Here is the problem: (13/35 8/9) + 7/10."
The Alien grinned smugly. The problem was hard, but Newton put his knowledge to it. 13/35 8/9 is 104/315...the LCD of 315 and 10 is 630...that would make it 208/630 + 441/630...The answer is 649/630, reduced to 1 19/630!
"The answer is 1 19/360," declared Newton. The Alien grumbled but let the triumphant newt pass.
Back at home, Newton told the Alex about his journey.
"So I went to Anarctica and-"
"Wait, why did you go to Antarctica?"
"Well I was trying to go to Greece. So anyway, I fell down a tunnel and there was a temple! And inside I found The Predator!"
"You don't say?"
"I do say. The Predator taught me all about fractions. And then an Alien was going to eat me but I outsmarted it. Oh, and that problem is wrong," Newton said, pointing at the Alex's math homework.
"That, dear Newton, is why I'm not in honors math."