Arrange 4/7, 5/9 and 7/12 in ascending order.

Question 32

MediumOriginal question

Arrange $\frac{4}{7}, \frac{5}{9}$ and $\frac{7}{12}$ in ascending order.

\frac{4}{7} < \frac{5}{9} < \frac{7}{12}

Correct answerYour answer

\frac{5}{9} < \frac{4}{7} < \frac{7}{12}

Correct answerYour answer

\frac{5}{9} < \frac{7}{12} < \frac{4}{7}

Correct answerYour answer

\frac{7}{12} < \frac{4}{7} < \frac{5}{9}

Correct answerYour answer

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CorrectNot quiteAnswer B

Correct answer: B

Convert to decimals: $\frac{4}{7} \approx 0.571$ , $\frac{5}{9} \approx 0.556$ , $\frac{7}{12} \approx 0.583$ .
Check with cross-products: $5 \times 7 = 35 < 4 \times 9 = 36$ , so $\frac{5}{9} < \frac{4}{7}$ ; $4 \times 12 = 48 < 7 \times 7 = 49$ , so $\frac{4}{7} < \frac{7}{12}$ .
Ascending order: $\frac{5}{9} < \frac{4}{7} < \frac{7}{12}$ .

Worth noting

Larger numerators do not mean larger fractions here; the three values are within 0.03 of each other, so compare carefully.

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