tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433841880619171855.post2578127230393189818..comments2024-03-27T21:09:44.320+00:00Comments on Pat'sBlog: Division of Fractions by the Alien Method (and followup)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433841880619171855.post-64467316941510757022013-10-26T05:32:36.959+01:002013-10-26T05:32:36.959+01:00I always thought of it by the definition of the re...I always thought of it by the definition of the reciprocal. A reciprocal is how many of a certain fraction fit into one whole, and division is always asking "how many of these fit inside of that?" <br /><br />A question like 2/3 div by 5/7 is really "how many 5/7 fit into 2/3?"<br /><br />Knowing that 5/7 fits into 1 7/5 of a time, then 5/7 fits into 2/3 7/5 of 2/3 times, hence the flip and the multiplication. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08604895988118162571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433841880619171855.post-32707304027944004982010-10-12T22:07:45.476+01:002010-10-12T22:07:45.476+01:00It is of course also possible to interpret the div...It is of course also possible to interpret the division of decimals as making them first to have common denominators. <br /><br />3.5/0.04 = (35/10) / (4/100) = (350/100) / (4/100) = 350/4.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01272365600951800811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433841880619171855.post-40060204958497892862010-09-21T19:02:57.171+01:002010-09-21T19:02:57.171+01:00Another way to explain:
2/3 div by 5/7 means how ...Another way to explain:<br /><br />2/3 div by 5/7 means how many sets of 5/7 are there in 2/3.<br /><br />First find out how many 1/7 there are, then group those in sets of 5:<br /><br />How many sevenths in any number? 7 times as many as the number, so...<br /><br />2/3 div by 1/7 = 2/3 times 7<br /><br />Now, to find out how many sets of 5 sevenths, we divide by 5, so...<br /><br />(2/3 x 7) div by 5 = 2/3 x 7/5<br />which shows that<br />2/3 div by 5/7 = 2/3 x 7/5<br /><br />There's nothing special about the numbers in the problem, so this method will work for any numbers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com