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Dividing fractions, a pedagogical technique

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-22, 05:35 authored by Robert LewisRobert Lewis

Dividing fractions, as easy as pie,
Flip the second fraction, then multiply.
And don't forget to simplify,
Before it's time to say goodbye.

We have all heard the rhyme, and perhaps taught it ourselves to our students. When dividing one fraction by a second fraction, invert, that is, flip the second fraction, then multiply it by the first fraction. To multiply fractions, simply multiply across the denominators, and multiply across the numerators to get the resultant fraction. So by inverting the division of fractions we turn it into an easy multiplication of fractions problem.

History

Publication title

Australian Mathematics Teacher

Volume

72

Pagination

18-19

ISSN

0045-0685

Publisher

Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers Inc.

Place of publication

Australia

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Pedagogy

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    University Of Tasmania

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