Why Do You Flip and Multiply?
A student who can divide by a fraction can't say why 'flip and multiply' works: 'Why do birds fly? It's just the way of things.'
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Cartoon by Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings. https://cartoons.mathwithbaddrawings.com/2017-01-01-why-do-you-flip-and-multiply/ (CC BY-NC 4.0)Transcript
"4 ÷ ⅓ = 12!" "I see. Why is that?" "Because you flip the ⅓ upside down and multiply." "Okay, but why?" "Why do birds fly? Why does bread crumble? Why do teachers ask so many questions? It's just the way of things."