Problem

11 point
Jackson is rewriting a fraction in lowest terms. Which value is missing?
\[
\frac{36 \div ?}{42 \div ?}=\frac{6}{7}
\]
7
6
4

Answer

Expert–verified
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Answer

Thus, the missing value is \(\boxed{6}\).

Steps

Step 1 :Notice that the fraction can be simplified by dividing both the numerator and the denominator by the same number.

Step 2 :Let's denote this number as \(x\). So, we have \(\frac{36 \div x}{42 \div x}=\frac{6}{7}\).

Step 3 :Cross-multiplying gives \(36 \times 7 = 42 \times 6 \times x\).

Step 4 :Solving for \(x\) gives \(x = \frac{36 \times 7}{42 \times 6}\).

Step 5 :Simplifying the right side of the equation gives \(x = \frac{6 \times 7}{6 \times 7}\).

Step 6 :So, \(x = 1\).

Step 7 :But 1 is not in the options, so we must have made a mistake.

Step 8 :Let's try to simplify the fraction \(\frac{36}{42}\) to see if we can find a clue.

Step 9 :We find that \(\frac{36}{42} = \frac{6 \times 6}{6 \times 7}\), which simplifies to \(\frac{6}{7}\).

Step 10 :So, the missing value is \(x = 6\), which is in the options.

Step 11 :Thus, the missing value is \(\boxed{6}\).

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