Dividing whole numbers by unit fractions is a straightforward process once you understand the concept behind it. A unit fraction is any fraction with a numerator of 1, such as ½, ¾, or ¿. When you divide a whole number by a unit fraction, you are essentially asking how many of that fraction fit into the whole number.
To divide a whole number by a unit fraction, you can use the following steps:
- Keep the whole number as it is.
- Flip the unit fraction to its reciprocal. For example, if you are dividing by ½, you would flip it to become 2.
- Multiply the whole number by the reciprocal of the unit fraction. This is equivalent to division. So, if you were dividing 6 by ½, you would multiply 6 by 2.
- Calculate the result. This will give you the answer to the division problem.
For instance, let’s look at the example of dividing 6 by ½:
- Keep the whole number: 6
- The unit fraction ½ is flipped to become 2.
- Now multiply: 6 * 2 = 12.
So, 6 divided by ½ equals 12. This means that there are 12 segments of ½ in the whole number 6, which is exactly what we’re trying to find out through division.