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Reciprocal Fractions To find the reciprocal of a fraction, flip it over, so that the numerator becomes the denominator and the denominator becomes the numerator. That is: The reciprocal of 4/5 is 5/4 Note that the product of a fraction and its reciprocal is always 1. 4/5 x 5/4 = 20/20 = 1 In the case of a whole number, think of it as having a denominator of 1: The reciprocal of 5 is 1/5.
5/1 x 1/5 = 5/5 = 1 Every number has a reciprocal except for 0. There is nothing you can multiply by 0 to create a product of 1, so it has no reciprocal. Reciprocals are used when dividing fractions.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. More on Reciprocal Fractions from Infoplease:
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