High School

What could you divide and then multiply by to go from the first number to the second?

First number: 143
Second number: 78

To get to 1, divide 143 by [blank]. From 1, multiply by [blank] to get to 78.

OR, in a single step, multiply 143 by [blank] to get to 78.

Answer :

Divide 143 by 78 to find a ratio of approximately 1.8333. Multiplying 143 by the reciprocal (around 0.5455) yields 78, combining both steps in a single operation.

To solve the problem of finding what you divide and then multiply by to go from 143 to 78, follow these steps:

  1. Divide 143 by 78 to find the ratio:

143 ÷ 78 ≈ 1.8333

  1. To get from 143 to 1, you would divide by 143, and then to get from 1 to 78, you would multiply by 78.
  2. However, combining these two steps, you multiply 143 by the reciprocal of 1.8333:

143 × (1/1.8333) ≈ 78

Hence, the single step operation is to multiply 143 by approximately 0.5455 (which is 1 ÷ 1.8333) to get 78.