Question

The expression
1
÷
1
4
1
÷
1
4
is given. Give a real-life application to explain this expression and then simplify it.

​

Answer 1

A real-life application of this expression is in cooking. If a recipe calls for 1/4 cup of a certain ingredient, but you only need 1/4 of that amount for a smaller serving, you would divide 1/4 by another 1/4.

To simplify this expression, we need to follow the order of operations, which is division before multiplication. So we can rewrite the expression as:

1 ÷ 1/4 ÷ 1/4

To divide by a fraction, we actually multiply by its reciprocal. So we can rewrite the expression again as:

1 x 4/1 x 4/1

Simplifying this multiplication gives us:

16/1

So the simplified form of the expression 1 ÷ 1/4 ÷ 1/4 is 16.