We are told that a neighborhood garden that is 23 of an acre is to be divided into 4 equal sized sections. We want to write and solve an equation to find the size of each section. It will be the result of a division of the size of the garden by the number of sections. We can write the following equation to represent this situation.
2/3÷ 4=
Now, to find the solution of this equation, we need to divide a fraction by a whole number. Before we do so, we will write the whole number as a fraction.
2/3÷ 4=2/3÷4/1
Next, recall that dividing fractions is the same as multiplying the first fraction by the reciprocal of the second fraction. In our case, the reciprocal of 41 is 14, because 41* 14=1.
2/3 ÷ 4/1=2/3 * 1/4
When multiplying fractions, remember that the product of two fractions is equal to the product of the numerators over the product of the denominators.
Finally, we can write the solution of the previously written equation.
2/3÷ 4=1/6
This means that the size of each section of the neighborhood garden will be 16 of an acre.
Checking Our Answer
We can check our answer by substituting the obtained result for the first fraction and multiplying it by the second fraction from the transformed equation. The product we get should be the dividend of the written expression.
