Question

How do you divide `1/2 div 1/8`?

Answer 1

`4`

Explanation:

To divide by a fraction:

Change the `div` to `xx` and flip the fraction which follows.

This means " multiply by the reciprocal"

We see this in every day life where:

"dividing something by 2," is the same as finding "half of it"

`12 div 2 = 12 xx 1/2 = 1/2 xx 12 = 6`

In this case we have:

`1/2 div 1/8`

= `1/2 xx8/1`

= `1/cancel2 xxcancel8^4/1`

=`4`

[This actually means there are 4 portions of `1/8` each in `1/2`]