How to Divide Fractions

While it may not seem relevant at the moment, knowing how to divide fractions will help you greatly when you move on to more advanced math classes.You will need to divide fractions anywhere from intermediate Algebra to Calculus III and beyond.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper
• Pencil
• Calculator (optional)

1. 
    
   a is the dividend, b is the divisor, c is the quotient.

   Write out your equation and make sure you know what the dividend, divisor and quotient are. Refer to the image for an explanation of which is which.

2. 
    
   Fractional division written in a fractional form.

   Normally when you have an equation which involves fractions being divided, you will see it as two fractions within a fraction.If the equation is not written like this, I would suggest re-writing it as a fraction for simplicity. Refer to the image for a better understanding of this.

3. 
    
   Finding the reciprocal of the divisor.

   Find the reciprocal of your divisor.Finding the reciprocal is simple, just flip the numbers in the numerator and divisor as shown in the image.

4. 
    
   Multiply the dividend by the reciprocal of the divisor.

   Multiply the dividend by the reciprocal of the divisor. Remember that multiplying fractions is easy, simply multiply across the top, then multiply across the bottom as shown in the image.

5. 
    

   Refer to the image for a complete example of this process using actual numbers. Remember to simplify the answer you get, teachers always appreciate this.

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[gputscher]

on 11/9/2009 You have some great articles here. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. 5*&rec