what is 6 divided by 1/3= what? Medal to the best helper

Question

anteater · Answer

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anonymous · Answer

You could use your calculator, and simplify it.

$$6 \div (1/3) = $$

anteater · Answer

I have made 6 "whole" circles and divided each of them into thirds. If you count up all of the thirds, how many pieces are there?

anonymous · Answer

18

anteater · Answer

vzfreakz is correct. What I am attempting to do, though, is to show you why you get that answer,

anteater · Answer

Yes, 18 is correct.

anteater · Answer

Now, have you heard this "rule":  To divide by a fraction, you multiply by its reciprocal   ?

anonymous · Answer

Yes, what @anteater said. She is giving you the picture.

anteater · Answer

And you find the reciprocal of a number by "flipping" it over, so that the numerator and denominator change places.  So, for example, the reciprocal of 2/5 is 5/2;  the reciprocal of 7/8 is 8/7, and so on.

Now if you have a whole number, such as 4, you can think of it as the improper fraction 4/1, so the reciprocal of that would be 1/4. Hopefully that makes sense!

For your problem the fraction you are dividing by is 1/3. The reciprocal of 1/3 is 3/1 or just 3.  So, 6  divided by 1/3  =  6 X 3 = 18.  I hope that was helpful!