Final answer:
To multiply two positive rational numbers, write them as fractions, multiply the numerators to get the new numerator, multiply the denominators to get the new denominator, and simplify the result.
Step-by-step explanation:
To multiply two positive rational numbers, simply follow these steps:
- Write down both positive rational numbers in fraction form, if they are not already. For example, the number 2 could be written as 2/1.
- Multiply the numerators (the top numbers) of the two fractions together to get the numerator of the answer.
- Multiply the denominators (the bottom numbers) of the two fractions together to get the denominator of the answer.
- Simplify the resulting fraction by dividing both the numerator and the denominator by any common factors, if necessary, to get the simplest form of the answer.
For example, if we wanted to multiply 3/4 by 2/5, we would multiply the numerators (3 and 2) to get 6, and the denominators (4 and 5) to get 20. Thus, the answer is 6/20, which simplifies to 3/10 when divided by the common factor of 2.