Dividing Fractions Practice

To divide fractions, multiply the first fraction by the reciprocal of the second fraction. For example, to divide $$\frac{a}{b}$$ by $$\frac{c}{d}$$ , calculate $$\frac{a}{b} \times \frac{d}{c}$$ .

A reciprocal of a number is 1 divided by that number. For a fraction $$\frac{a}{b}$$ , the reciprocal is $$\frac{b}{a}$$ .

To convert a whole number to a fraction, place it over 1. For example, the whole number 5 can be written as $$\frac{5}{1}$$ .

Dividing a number by a fraction is the same as multiplying that number by the reciprocal of the fraction.

$$5 \div \frac{1}{2} = 5 \times 2 = 10$$ .

$$\frac{11}{12} \div \frac{1}{2} = \frac{11}{12} \times 2 = \frac{11 \times 2}{12} = \frac{22}{12} = \frac{11}{6}$$ .

Divide the total time spent by the time spent on each subject. For example, if 1 hour is spent and $$\frac{1}{4}$$ hour is spent on French, then the number of subjects is $$1 \div \frac{1}{4} = 4$$ .

The first step is to find the reciprocal of the second fraction.

To multiply fractions, multiply the numerators together and the denominators together. For example, $$\frac{a}{b} \times \frac{c}{d} = \frac{a \times c}{b \times d}$$ .

$$\frac{16}{17} \div \frac{1}{3} = \frac{16}{17} \times 3 = \frac{48}{17}$$ .