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Why is the quotient of three divided by one-fifth different from the quotient of one-fifth divided by three? Tell a story that could describe each situation.

User NhatNienne
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2 Answers

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14 votes

Answer:

The answer is different because it is not in the commutative property

Explanation:

User Tomasz Grobelny
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23 votes
23 votes

Answer:

These quotients are different because of what division means.

Explanation:

When you divide you start with a total and break it into equal groups. If you started with three and broke them into groups of 1/5, that is different then starting with 1/5 and breaking into three groups.

If you had 3 cups of Chex mix and made servings of 1/5 of a cup. How many servings could you get? This is 3 divided by 1/5.

If you want to put tomatoes in 1/5 of your garden and you have 3 different tomatoes you want to plant. What fraction of the original garden will each type of tomato be in if they are evenly distributed.

User Vitto
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