I am reteaching myself math, but something is bugging me soooo bad and I can’t find the answer. What is a real life example of multiplying a fraction by a fraction? I was wondering why .05 to the 5th exponent would get smaller not bigger. This is driving me bonkers.
Sure 1/2 makes sense, but how about 1/2 times 3/5 in real life?!?
Edit: OMFG. Math is cool and makes sense. Finally, I’m 28. Thank you all!!!!
Edit: I was given an AP Scholar award, but it was not for math.
* * * The best explanation goes to the person who explained “times” and “of” were synonomous!!!! * * *
NOW EXPLAIN THIS: How am I in the 99.9th percentile for arithmetic, but suck at math?! Do I have potential? Am I still gifted in “math” or are math and arithmetic too separate things. A professor told me they are different parts of the brain.
In: Mathematics
It’s a fraction of a fraction.
In the case of 1/2 “times” 3/5 it’s half of 3/5 which if you want to visualize it say you have a circle and say it have 5 places where you can out apples, place out three apples among those spaces. If the circle is one whole that’s 3/5 or 60%. Now that times 1/2 (which also is 0.5) mean you will just have half as many apples which you hopefully quickly figure out mean 1.5 apple. However with these things you aren’t supposed to answer 1.5/5 though that is the right amount. What you do instead is that you multiply the denominators so 2 * 5 resulting in 10 granting you spaces for 10 things and then the numerators 1 * 3 and you get three. So three out of ten spaces would be filled and you should answer 3/10 or 30% by visually you could see it as instead of having room for 5 whole apples you make room for 10 apple halves where you still place three halves but as you know three halves only make up 1.5 apple not 3. As in you divide all apples into 2 pieces and then keep as many pieces as you originally had.
Regardless of what we are talking of you can see the denominator as in how many pieces it’s split up and the numerator as how many of those pieces. So one full unit at first was split into 5 and you had 3 of those. But then you divide everything again in 2 and you have an equal amount of those meaning 3 of 10.
0.5 can’t find the sign 5 just mean half times half times half and so on which become smaller and smaller because you re cutting it in half the whole time.
For the apples cut them in half and keep as many pieces as before as said 3/10 if you visualize as apple halves. Maybe that just confuses things as 1.5 apple is more than 1 but now it was of potentially 5 and how full that circle was. Maybe this last part just fucked up. Depending on how you think the other way would be split the apple into five pieces. Now cut then apart again and you get 10 pieces. 1/2 x 3/5 is keeping 1 * 3 = 3 of those tenths of an apple. Denominator in the division being how many times you divide something into smaller parts and the numerator how many of those smaller parts you keep/have. In the case of multiplying these fractions you are dividing something already divided.
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