Answer: [tex]-\frac{p}{8}[/tex]
This is the fraction -p/8
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Explanation:
When we divide by -16, we're really multiplying by -1/16. Fractions and division are very similar ideas.
So we can say,
[tex]2p \div -16 = 2p \times \frac{-1}{16}\\\\2p \div -16 = \frac{2p}{1} \times \frac{-1}{16}\\\\2p \div -16 = \frac{2p(-1)}{1*16}\\\\2p \div -16 = \frac{-2p}{16}\\\\2p \div -16 = \frac{-2p}{2*8}\\\\2p \div -16 = -\frac{p}{8}\\\\[/tex]
The second to last step has a pair of '2's divide and cancel out.
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Another way to think of it is to consider
[tex]\frac{a}{b} \div \frac{c}{d} = \frac{a}{b} \times \frac{d}{c}[/tex]
The flip from division to multiplication has us apply the reciprocal of the second fraction. In this problem, we have a = 2p, b = 1, c = -16 and d = 1. The steps will be very similar if not identical to what is shown above.
