4 divided by 1/3 as a fraction
The Correct Answer and Explanation is :
The correct answer is: 12
To divide 4 by ( \frac{1}{3} ), you can follow the rule of dividing by a fraction, which is to multiply by its reciprocal. The reciprocal of ( \frac{1}{3} ) is ( 3 ), so the calculation can be expressed as:
[
4 \div \frac{1}{3} = 4 \times 3
]
Now, performing the multiplication:
[
4 \times 3 = 12
]
Therefore, ( 4 \div \frac{1}{3} = 12 ).
To understand why this works, let’s break it down further. When you divide a number by a fraction, you’re essentially determining how many of those fractional parts fit into the whole number. In this case, you want to find out how many ( \frac{1}{3} ) portions fit into 4.
Imagine that you have a whole (4 units) and you want to break it into pieces of ( \frac{1}{3} ). To visualize this, you can think of it as taking 4 whole units and dividing each unit into 3 parts. Since each whole unit consists of 3 ( \frac{1}{3} ) portions, the total number of ( \frac{1}{3} ) portions in 4 units would be:
[
3 \text{ (from one unit)} \times 4 \text{ (units)} = 12
]
Thus, you can see that dividing 4 by ( \frac{1}{3} ) results in 12. This principle applies broadly to any situation where you divide by a fraction; you always multiply by the reciprocal.
In conclusion, dividing by a fraction can be thought of as scaling up the original number, indicating that you can fit multiple portions of that fraction into the whole number. Therefore, ( 4 \div \frac{1}{3} = 12 ) is a straightforward calculation that illustrates a fundamental concept in arithmetic involving fractions.