Question

Which shows the correct way to use the rule multiply by the reciprocal for the expression below:

7/ 5/8

a. 7/5 × 8/1
b. 7/1 × 8/5
c. 7/5 ÷ 8/1
d. 7/1 ÷ 8/5

Answer 1

The correct method to multiply by the reciprocal for the expression 7 divided by 5/8 is to perform the multiplication 7/1 × 8/5, leading to the answer 56/5.

Step-by-step explanation:

To correctly use the rule of multiply by the reciprocal for the expression 7 divided by 5/8, we should transform the division into multiplication by using the reciprocal of the divisor. The reciprocal of 5/8 is 8/5. Therefore, we multiply 7 by 8/5, which gives us the multiplication of two fractions.

The correct option that represents this process is b. 7/1 × 8/5. This translates to multiplying the numerator (7) by the numerator (8) to get 56 and the denominator (1) by the denominator (5) to get 5, simplifying to 56/5.