2/5 divided by 4

Guri Bee

less than a minute read

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20-10-2024

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Understanding Division: 2/5 Divided by 4

Dividing fractions can seem tricky, but with a little understanding, it becomes much clearer. Let's break down how to solve 2/5 divided by 4.

The Problem:

We want to find out what happens when we divide the fraction 2/5 into four equal parts.

Understanding Division as Sharing

Imagine you have a pizza cut into five slices, and you have two of those slices (2/5 of the pizza). Now you want to share those two slices equally among four friends.

The Solution

There are a couple of ways to approach this:

1. Using Multiplication:

• Key Concept: Dividing by a number is the same as multiplying by its reciprocal. The reciprocal of 4 is 1/4.

• Calculation: (2/5) / 4 = (2/5) * (1/4) = 2/20

• Simplifying: 2/20 can be simplified to 1/10.

2. Visual Representation:

Imagine dividing each of your two slices into four equal parts. You would now have eight smaller pieces (2 x 4 = 8). Since you are sharing among four people, each person gets two of these smaller pieces (8/4 = 2). Each person gets 2/20 of the whole pizza, which simplifies to 1/10.

The Answer: 2/5 divided by 4 equals 1/10.

Why it Matters

Understanding division of fractions is crucial in various fields, including:

• Cooking: Scaling recipes up or down.
• Construction: Calculating the amount of materials needed for a project.
• Finance: Determining the value of investments.

Additional Tips

• Remember the "Keep, Change, Flip" rule: When dividing fractions, you can "keep" the first fraction, "change" the division to multiplication, and "flip" the second fraction (its reciprocal).
• Practice: The more you practice dividing fractions, the more comfortable you'll become.

Resources:

• Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic/fractions/dividing-fractions/v/dividing-fractions-example
• Math is Fun: https://www.mathsisfun.com/fractions_division.html

Note: This article is based on the question "2/5 divided by 4" found in various online forums.