To divide by a fraction, multiply by its reciprocal.
Rewrite the expression: 3 ÷ 4 1 = 3 × 4 .
Calculate the product: 3 × 4 = 12 .
The final answer is 12 .
Explanation
Understanding the Problem We are asked to evaluate the expression 3 ÷ 4 1 . This involves dividing a whole number by a fraction.
Rewriting the Division To divide by a fraction, we multiply by its reciprocal. The reciprocal of 4 1 is 4 . Therefore, we can rewrite the expression as a multiplication:
3 ÷ 4 1 = 3 × 4
Performing the Multiplication Now we perform the multiplication:
3 × 4 = 12
Stating the Result Therefore, the result of the division is 12.
Examples
Imagine you have 3 pizzas, and you want to divide each pizza into slices that are 4 1 of the whole pizza. How many slices would you have in total? This problem is equivalent to calculating 3 ÷ 4 1 , which we found to be 12. So, you would have 12 slices in total. This kind of division is useful in cooking, sharing, and many other everyday situations.
To calculate 3 ÷ 4 1 , we rewrite it as 3 × 4 , which equals 12 . This process illustrates dividing by a fraction by using its reciprocal. Therefore, the final answer is 12 .
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