Dividing Fractions
How would you answer the equation of 3/4 divided by 1/8? It isn't as complicated as it seems.
You cannot solve a problem until you know what you are trying to figure out. What does 3/4 divided by 1/8 mean? Division problems ask how many times the divisor goes into the dividend, so this is asking how many times 1/8 can go into 3/4.
Here is the algorithm. You need to change the division problem into a multiplication problem. How are you supposed to do that. Easy, you just find the reciprocal of the second fraction/divisor. To find a reciprocal, you need to make the numerator of the fraction into the denominator and the denominator into the numerator. In this case, the the reciprocal would be 8/1. So now, we have gone from 3/4 divided by 1/8 to 3/4 divided by 8/1. Wait, go back. The revised version of the question is incorrect. Whenever you use reciprocals, you have to make sure you change "divided by" to "times". So now the problem is 3/4 times 8/1. Here is what your number sentence should look like:
You cannot solve a problem until you know what you are trying to figure out. What does 3/4 divided by 1/8 mean? Division problems ask how many times the divisor goes into the dividend, so this is asking how many times 1/8 can go into 3/4.
Here is the algorithm. You need to change the division problem into a multiplication problem. How are you supposed to do that. Easy, you just find the reciprocal of the second fraction/divisor. To find a reciprocal, you need to make the numerator of the fraction into the denominator and the denominator into the numerator. In this case, the the reciprocal would be 8/1. So now, we have gone from 3/4 divided by 1/8 to 3/4 divided by 8/1. Wait, go back. The revised version of the question is incorrect. Whenever you use reciprocals, you have to make sure you change "divided by" to "times". So now the problem is 3/4 times 8/1. Here is what your number sentence should look like:
You can also use a model to help figure this problem out.
The model is showing that the answer is 6 because 1/8 is clearly fitting into 3/4 6 times. A model or a number sentence would both work on a problem like this. Remember how to use reciprocals and that you can also make models. The final number sentence is, 3/4 divided by 1/8= 6.
Congratulations on completing your model!
ReplyDeleteYou used a diagram and gave a detailed paragraph explaining your models. Congratulations!