Use a Calculator to Find Reciprocals of Numbers

What is a reciprocal?

Well, a reciprocal is a multiplicative inverse of a number.

But what does that mean?

This means that when a number is paired with its reciprocal and then multiplied together the answer will be 1

How do we find the reciprocal?

Put simply, the reciprocal of a number is 1 divided by the number. 

Example

The reciprocal of 20 is 1 ÷ 20 = 1/20 or 0.05

The reciprocal of 0.2 is 1 ÷ 0.2 =  1/0.2 or 5

The reciprocal of 2/3 is 1 ÷ 2/3 = 3/2

You can either work out 1 ÷ 20 or use the reciprocal button 1/x or x^-1 on the calculator.

Let's have a go at some questions.