Expert: Wei Chong - 5/21/2008

Question
Hello, i will like to now how to do reciprocals for example how would you solve 0.75?

Answer
Hi Niecy,

The idea behind reciprocal is quite simple. For example:

i) reciprocal for x is 1/x
ii) reciprocal for 2 is 1/2

So, for your case:

=> reciprocal for 0.75 is 1/0.75

But rather than leaving it as 1/0.75, we should simplify it. This is shown below:

1/0.75 =  100/75 (multiplied both the numerator and denominator by 100)
      =  4/3  (divided both the numerator and denominator by 25)
      
We can no longer simplify 4/3. So, the reciprocal for 0.75 is 4/3.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,
Wei Chong
http://www.mathexpression.com