Question

Using the numbers 2, 4 and 5 what is the smallest number you can make using +, -, x and / once only

Answer 1

Answer: 0.4

Explanation:

• if you multiply any of the numbers together, you'll just get a bigger whole number

• addition and subtraction will also give you whole integers (remember that negative numbers are still integers)

So, which numbers are less than whole numbers? Fractions! And how do we get an answer that is a fraction? By dividing two of the numbers that we were given.

With that in mind, how can we make the smallest fraction? By taking the smallest number and dividing it by the largest one.

So, we get this:

2 ÷ 5 =
`(2)/(5)` = 0.4

Therefore, I got 0.4 as the smallest number that you can get.

Hope this helps!