Answer
Divide the numerator by the denominator. The quotient becomes the whole number, the remainder becomes the numerator of the fraction, and the denominator stays the same.
Work Step by Step
Proper fractions have a numerator that is smaller than the denominator, while improper fractions have a numerator that is greater than or equal to the denominator.
An example of an improper fraction is three-halves:
$\displaystyle \frac{3 \leftarrow numerator}{2\leftarrow denominator}$
To convert an improper fraction to a mixed number, you first need to divide the numerator by the denominator (e.g. $3\div 2$) and find the remainder:
$~~~~1$
$2\overline{)~~3~}$
$~-2$
$~~\overline{~~1~~}$
In this example, the remainder is $1$ and the quotient is also $1$. Next we write the quotient as the whole number and the remainder as the numerator of the fraction part. The denominator stays the same. Thus the fraction becomes:
$\displaystyle 1\frac{1}{2}$
