Use mixed numbers, fractions, integers or decimals
Accepts: 1 3/4 · −2 3/8 · 5/6 · −3 · 1.5
Everything you need to understand, calculate, and master mixed numbers — from what they are to how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide them.
Imagine you ordered two pizzas and ate one full pizza plus three slices of the second. You didn't eat a whole second pizza — you ate a part of it. That's a mixed number in real life: a whole number living side by side with a fraction.
The key insight: 2¾ and 11⁄4 are the exact same quantity. To convert, multiply the whole number by the denominator and add the numerator: 2 × 4 + 3 = 11. This trick is the secret behind every mixed-number calculation.
Working with mixed numbers by hand means converting, finding common denominators, simplifying — a chain of steps where one slip ruins everything. The calculator handles all of that silently, while also showing you why each step happens.
The golden rule for every operation: convert mixed numbers to improper fractions first. Once they're improper fractions, the arithmetic becomes straightforward. Then convert back and simplify at the end.
To add mixed numbers, convert them to improper fractions, find a common denominator, add the numerators, then simplify.
Subtraction follows the same path as addition — convert to improper fractions, align denominators, then subtract the numerators.
Multiplication is actually the easiest operation — no common denominator needed. Convert, multiply top-by-top and bottom-by-bottom, then simplify.
Division has one extra trick: flip the second fraction (take its reciprocal), then multiply. That's the whole secret — "keep, change, flip."