Can some explain to me what a reciprocal is? Ta.
2007-12-01 23:03:00 · 12 answers · asked by Wassup 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Reciprocal of a number or fraction is the number or fraction if with which the number or fraction is multiplied gives unity.
i.e. if A is reciprocal of X then X*A=1
here X is number multiplied by reciprocal A gives 1
here A = 1/X
Let A be the reciprocal of the fraction p/q then p/q*A=1 by definition.
Solving for A, A=1/ (p/q) = 1* (q/p) = q/p
Therefore reciprocal of p/q is q/p.
2007-12-01 23:28:35 · answer #1 · answered by Indian Primrose 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The reciprocal of x
is 1/x.
2007-12-03 11:23:56 · answer #2 · answered by Red Campion 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's a fraction turned on its head. Any whole number can be expressed as that number over 1. For example, another way of saying 2 is writing it as 2 over 1. That means the reciprocal is 1 over 2, or a half. Essentially, the reciprocal of any number is 1 over that number.
2007-12-02 07:09:08 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
In laymans terms "1 over". It is a bit more complicated than that.
The reciprocal of 2 is 1/2 = 0.5
The reciprocal of 5 is 1/5 = 0.2
The reciprocal of 10 is 1/10 = 0.1
The reciprocal of x is 1/x = x^-1
The reciprocal of x^n is x^-n
2007-12-02 07:05:43 · answer #4 · answered by ? 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
In mathematics, a reciprocal is the number 1/x multiplied by x which gives the product 1.
2007-12-02 07:24:19 · answer #5 · answered by Louise Smith 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The reciprocal of a number is what you get when you divide 1 by that number so r. of 2 is one half, r. of 10 is one tenth, r. of 0.25 is 4, etc.
2007-12-02 07:12:59 · answer #6 · answered by morwood_leyland 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The product of x and its reciprocal is equal to one.
(2 times one half = 1)
If you see the graph of y=1/x then the line never touches the axis but gets infinitely close its called an asymptote.
You can also think of it as raising a number to the negative power of one.
(2^-1=0.5)
It's used in graph transformations, differentiation and much more...
2007-12-02 08:17:02 · answer #7 · answered by Raccoon 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Reciprocal (a term of expression or concept) that has a reciprocal relation to something else, e.g. "Risk is the reciprocal of safety".
2007-12-02 07:24:14 · answer #8 · answered by GRAHAM P 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Resiprocal is a mathematical term. Suppose if you you have the fraction of 1/2 the resiprocal of it will be 2/1. So a resiprocal is when the numerator of the fraction(N) and the denominator of the fraction(D) get interchanged.
Thank you for your question.
2007-12-02 07:11:50 · answer #9 · answered by sethsanchita 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
complement, counterpart, item which is equivalent to another item; pair of fractions whose product is one (Mathematics)
1/5 * 5/1 = 1
2007-12-02 07:19:29 · answer #10 · answered by espresso_iran 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋