Dividing Fractions

    Similar to when you are multiplying fractions, you do not need to have common denominators to divide fractions. When dividing fractions, take the first fraction multiplied by the reciprocal of the fraction it is being divided by. The reciprocal of a fraction is that fraction to the negative first power (x-1), which is, for the most part, a fancy way of saying the fraction flipped upside down. For example, the reciprocal of 1/2 is 2/1, or 2. The reciprocal of 3/4 is 4/3.

Practice problem: 1/2 divided by 3/4 = 2/3.

    1/2 / 3/4  =>  1/2 * 4/3  =>  4/6  => 2/3

WARNING: To put this into a calculator, you will need to put parentheses around both fractions on either side of the divided sign. This is to prevent your calculator from doing the order of operations incorrectly.

    For example, the problem above, without parentheses, would look like 1/2/3/4 on a calculator and equal approximately 0.0416 instead of 2/3, which it should. Inserting it as (1/2)/(3/4) fixes this problem.