Jamie has 8/10 of a candy bar, and wants to split it into an unknown number of 1/3 pieces. Our objective is to find the number of pieces.
Let the number of pieces be x.
To know the portion of the candy bar each piece is, we divide the total portion of the candy bar by the number of pieces.
So (8/10)/x = 1/3
Multiply each side by x
8/10 = 1/3x
Divide each side by 1/3 so we can have the variable x on a side, and its value on another.
(8/10)/(1/3) = (1/3x)/(1/3)
(8/10) / (1/3) = x
Dividing 2 fractions is equal to multiplying the first fraction by the inverse of the second:
(8/10) / (1/3) = x
(8/10) * 3 = x
24/10 = x
x = 2.4
Since this not a whole number, Jamie can make 2 full 1/3 pieces, and a piece of 1/10.
Or, you can easily say that Jamie can make 2.4 pieces of 1/3.
