Multiply or Divide? Your Choice!

Is it easier for you to multiply or divide?  Your answer to that question may change depending on the facts in the problem you need to solve.

Let's take a look at a couple scenarios, and you select which math operation you prefer to use.

1.) Sharon picked 48 ears of corn from her garden and wants to make enough equal portions so she will have 3 meals for her family.  How many ears of corn will she be able to serve for each meal?
Option 1:
Solve by Division: 48/3 = 16.

Option 2:
Solve by Multiplication: 48 x 1/3 = 16.
* To solve, we multiplied by the reciprocal of 3, which is 1/3, and yields the same results as dividing by 3.

2.)  Leonardo pumped 64 gallons of water into his new swimming pool, which took 4 minutes.  How many gallons of water per minute did he pump?
Option 1:
Solve by Division: 64/4 = 16.

Option 2:
Solve by Multiplication: 64 x 1/4 = 16.
* Once again, we multiplied by the reciprocal instead of dividing.  The reciprocal of 4 is 1/4, and as you can see, it yielded the same results.  Leonard pumped 16 gallons of water into his pool each minute.

Create and solve a few examples on your own, and share this great tip with a friend!  😀