Fraction number line

To put a fraction on a number line, the denominator says how many equal parts each whole is cut into, and the numerator says how many of those parts to count from 0. For 5/8, divide the space between 0 and 1 into 8 steps of 1/8 = 0.125 each, then count 5 steps to the right. The point lands at 0.625, past the halfway mark at 4/8, so 5/8 is closer to 1 than to 0.

A fraction larger than 1 keeps counting past the whole numbers. 7/4 is 7 steps of 1/4: four of them reach 1, and three more land between 1 and 2, at 1 3/4.

Negative fractions count to the left. -3/4 is 3 quarter steps left of 0, between -1 and 0.

Equivalent fractions share a point. 6/8 and 3/4 land in the same place: a line cut into eighths takes 6 steps to reach it and a line cut into quarters takes 3. Drawing the two lines one above the other is the usual way to show that 6/8 = 3/4, and an equivalent fractions number line works the same way for any pair.

A number line also orders fractions, since the one further right is larger. 2/3 is 0.666... and 5/8 is 0.625, so 2/3 sits just to the right of 5/8.