If there are 5 people in your family and you all have 
of a cake, how much cake do you have all together? This problem involves multiplying a whole number by a fraction. We often see whole numbers and fractions put together. To solve problems like this, it is important to learn how to multiply a whole number by a fraction.
Multiplying whole numbers by fractions is almost exactly the same as multiplying a fraction by another fraction. This is because we can easily change whole numbers into fractions. To change a whole number into a fraction, you simply put the whole number on top and 1 on the bottom. You can do this because the whole number divided by one is the same as the whole number. For example, 
= 6.
If we want to multiply 6 x 
, we must first change 6 into a fraction. Write 6 on the top and 1 on the bottom to get 
. Now we can multiply 
.
First, we multiply the numbers on the top: 6 times 7 equals 42 (6 x 7 = 42). So 42 will go on the top of our answer. Next, we multiply the numbers on the bottom: 1 times 3 equals 3 (1 x 3 = 3). The number on the bottom of our answer is 3. Since we have both numbers now, we can put them together in our fraction and see that 6 x 
.
