Question

zach bought a 2/3 of a pound of clay for the students in his pottery class. he then divided the clay into 2 equal pieces for his students to use for making vases and pots. how much did each piece weigh? write your answer as a fraction or as a whole or mixed number. pounds

Explanation:

Step1: Understand the problem

We need to divide the amount of clay, which is $\frac{2}{3}$ pound, into 2 equal parts. So we use division: $\frac{2}{3} \div 2$.

Step2: Divide the fraction by the whole number

Dividing by a number is the same as multiplying by its reciprocal. The reciprocal of 2 is $\frac{1}{2}$. So we have $\frac{2}{3} \times \frac{1}{2}$.

Step3: Multiply the fractions

Multiply the numerators: $2 \times 1 = 2$. Multiply the denominators: $3 \times 2 = 6$. So we get $\frac{2}{6}$, which simplifies to $\frac{1}{3}$ by dividing both the numerator and denominator by 2.

Answer:

$\frac{1}{3}$