In a division problem, when you turn the divisor into a reciprocal, you also need to change the equation from division to multiplication. When you create a reciprocal of a number, you’re creating its opposite as well. ⅙ → ⁶⁄₁ Step 2: Change the division sign to a multiplication symbol and multiplyĭividing and multiplying are opposites of each other. The first step to solve the problem is to turn our divisor, ⅙, into a reciprocal. Do you cross multiply when you divide fractions Dividing two fractions is the same as multiplying the first fraction by the. Six divided by two gives you a quotient of three. The answers to your division problems are called quotients. The number you are dividing by is the divisor. Take a look at the example equation again: The number you are dividing is called the dividend. The denominator becomes the numerator and vice versa. To find the reciprocal of a fraction you simply flip the numbers.
Once the whole number is turned into a fraction you can continue to solve the problem with the three-step strategy. To turn a whole number into a fraction, make the numerator the whole number and make the denominator one. If you want to change two into one through multiplication you need to multiply it by 0.5. Before you can start dividing, you need to turn the whole number into a fraction. Step 1: Flip the divisor into a reciprocalĪ reciprocal is what you multiply a number by to get the value of one. Essentially what you’re doing when multiplying fractions is multiplying the first fraction by the reciprocal of the second fraction.īut through this guide, we’ll go into this in more detail to streamline the division of fractions and help you avoid complex fractions.