Final answer:
Jessica has 4/8 (which simplified is 1/2) of a bottle of Robitussin syrup, and the pharmacist needs half of that amount. By multiplying 1/2 by 1/2, we find out the pharmacist requires 1/4 of the bottle to prepare the prescription.
Step-by-step explanation:
Jessica has 4/8 of a bottle of Robitussin syrup on hand. To prepare a patient's prescription, the pharmacist instructs Jessica to reduce this amount by 1/2. To determine how much syrup the pharmacist needs, we perform a simple multiplication:
- First, convert 4/8 to its simplest form, which is 1/2.
- Then, to reduce this amount by half, multiply 1/2 by 1/2.
The calculation is as follows:
(1/2) × (1/2) = 1/4
Therefore, the pharmacist needs 1/4 of the bottle of Robitussin to prepare the prescription.