Reciprocals and Complex Fractions

Reciprocals

The reciprocal of a fraction is the fraction turned upside down. That is the numerator becomes the denominator and the denominator becomes the numerator, examples:

The reciprocal of

The reciprocal of or 8.

To get the reciprocal of a mixed number, first convert to improper fraction and then invert, for example:

The reciprocal of is

Any number multiplied by its reciprocal will always be 1, for example:

Complex Fractions

A complex fraction is a fraction within a fraction. If we have a fraction as the numerator, then the denominators are to be multiplied to get the simplified fraction.

For example:

If we have a fraction as the denominator, then the top numerator is multiplied with the reciprocal of the denominator to get the simplified fraction.

For example:

The following video show more examples of reciprocals, dividing fractions and simplifying complex fractions.