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are solved using cross-multiplication, since the missing b term is implicitly equal to 1: =. Any equation containing fractions or rational expressions can be simplified by multiplying both sides by the least common denominator. This step is called clearing fractions.
Since 3 / 3 equals 1, multiplication by 3 / 3 does not change the value of the fraction. Second, convert 2 / 3 into fifteenths by multiplying both the numerator and denominator by five: = . Now it can be seen that
Note also how multiplication by zero causes a reduction in dimensionality, as does multiplication by a singular matrix where the determinant is 0. In this process, information is lost and cannot be regained. For real and complex numbers, which includes, for example, natural numbers, integers, and fractions, multiplication has certain properties:
Dividing 272 and 8, starting with the hundreds digit, 2 is not divisible by 8. Add 20 and 7 to get 27. The largest number that the divisor of 8 can be multiplied by without exceeding 27 is 3, so it is written under the tens column. Subtracting 24 (the product of 3 and 8) from 27 gives 3 as the remainder.
To begin solving, we multiply each side of the equation by the least common denominator of all the fractions contained in the equation. In this case, the least common denominator is () (+). After performing these operations, the fractions are eliminated, and the equation becomes:
This example uses peasant multiplication to multiply 11 by 3 to arrive at a result of 33. Decimal: Binary: 11 3 1011 11 5 6 101 110 2 12 10 1100 1 24 1 11000 —— —————— 33 100001 Describing the steps explicitly: 11 and 3 are written at the top
Multiplying two unit fractions produces another unit fraction, but other arithmetic operations do not preserve unit fractions. In modular arithmetic, unit fractions can be converted into equivalent whole numbers, allowing modular division to be transformed into multiplication.
Multiplication is often defined for natural numbers, then extended to whole numbers, fractions, and irrational numbers. However, abstract algebra has a more general definition of multiplication as a binary operation on some objects that may or may not be numbers. Notably, one can multiply complex numbers, vectors, matrices, and quaternions.