Expert: Josh - 5/18/2011

Question
what is half of 2 and 1/3 cups of water

Answer
Hi Andy,

We can do this in two ways.

Method 1: Combine 2 and 1/3, converting this quantity into an improper fraction. Then, divide this by two.
2 + (1/3)
= (6/3) + (1/3) <--- here, we have used 2 = 2 x 1 = 2 x (3/3) = 6/3
= (6+1)/3 <--- since the denominator of both fractions are the same, we can combine them this way
= 7/3    <--- this is called an improper fraction

Now, dividing 7/3 (the equivalent of 2 and 1/3) by 2, we get
(7/3) /2 = (7/3) x (1/2) = 7/6.
You can write this as 1 and 1/6 if you like.

Method 2: Since 2 and 1/3 is the sum of 2 and 1/3, we can divide each component by two and add them together.
2/2 = 1 whereas (1/3)/2 = (1/3) x (1/2) = 1/6.
Adding these components together, we get the same answer as before, 1 + (1/6).