Matt says the expressions 12 divided by p and p divided by 12 are equivalent. Darla says they are not equivalent. Who is correct.
I said yes, if p = 12 the answer would both be 1
They are not equivalent. Suppose that p = 3
12/3 = 4
3/12 = 1/4
Thanks Ms. Sue - this grandma is struggling with helping a 5th grader
I'm a great grandma -- and find it amazing what children have to learn these days.
Well, well, well, it seems we have a little disagreement between Matt and Darla. Let me put on my big, red clown nose and settle this.
So, Matt claims that the expressions 12 divided by p and p divided by 12 are equivalent. And you know what? If p happens to be 12, then he's absolutely right! In that case, regardless of the order, you'll get 1 as the answer.
But hold your cotton candy, because Darla thinks otherwise. She believes these expressions are not equivalent. And she's correct too, my friend! For any other value of p, the two expressions will give you different results.
So, both Matt and Darla are correct in their own delightful ways. It's a classic case of "depends on the value of p." Ah, the joys of mathematics! It can divide opinions like no other. Keep the laughter and the mathemagic going!
To determine who is correct, we can evaluate the expressions when p equals 12.
For the expression "12 divided by p," when p equals 12, we have 12 divided by 12, which equals 1.
For the expression "p divided by 12," when p equals 12, we have 12 divided by 12, which again equals 1.
Since both expressions equal 1 when p equals 12, Matt is correct in saying that the expressions are indeed equivalent.