Question

Kate divides 1/2 gallon of water equally among 5 plants.

How much water does each plant get?

Enter your answer as a fraction in simplest form by filling in the boxes.

$$
gal

Answer 1

To divide \( \frac{1}{2} \) gallon of water equally among 5 plants, we need to perform the division of \( \frac{1}{2} \) by 5.

This can be expressed as:
\[
\frac{1}{2} \div 5
\]

Dividing by a number is the same as multiplying by its reciprocal. The reciprocal of 5 is \( \frac{1}{5} \). Therefore:
\[
\frac{1}{2} \div 5 = \frac{1}{2} \times \frac{1}{5}
\]

Now, multiply the fractions:
\[
\frac{1 \times 1}{2 \times 5} = \frac{1}{10}
\]

Thus, each plant receives:
\[
\frac{1}{10} \text{ gallon of water.}
\]

So the answer is:
\[
\frac{1}{10} \text{ gal.}
\]