Dividing by a fraction seems anomalous in the set of arithmetic operations inasmuch at it appears to have no analog in the physical world.
Is this the case? Or is there some physical analog to the arithmetic operation of division by a fraction?
Examples
AdditionAnalog: Place one pebble on the ground. Place a second pebble on the ground beside the first. Count the pebbles. That is an analog for the addition operation.
SubtractionAnalog: Place three pebbles on the ground. Remove one pebble. Count the remaining pebbles. That is an analog for subtraction of 3 minus 1.
MultiplicationAnalog: Take a group of x pebbles. Place n of those groups on the ground. Count the pebbles. That is an analog for multiplication of x times n.
DivisionAnalog: Take an apple. Slice it into six pieces. Give one piece to each of six friends. That is an analog for division by six.
One can construct examples of other arithmetic operations. Even powers. But in the world of simple arithmetic, for division by fractions, there seems to be no analog.
Or have I overlooked something?
You have $24$ apples to distribute on Halloween, and you want to give each child $2$ apples; how many children can you accommodate?
$$\frac{24}2=12\;.$$
Hm. That’s not very many. Suppose that you give each child $\frac12$ an apple; how many children can you then accommodate?
$$\frac{24}{1/2}=48\;.$$
It’s the same process.