Question

You cut off half of a strip of paper. Then you cut off half of the piece that is left. Then you cut off half of the remaining piece.

What fraction of the original strip is left?

Answer 1

Basically the question is
(1/2)^3
So
(1/2)(1/2)(1/2)=(1/8)
Your answer is (1/8)

Answer 2

To figure this out, you need to understand that cutting something in half means to divide it by 2.  So, if you start off with one whole strip of paper, you will divide this by 2 to get 1/2 (1 divided by 2 can be written as the fraction 1/2).  Then divide that by 2 again (1/2 divided by 2 is the same as 1/2 x 1/2 - Keep, change, invert). This equals 1/4.  Then divide this by 2 (1/4 divided by 2 means 1/4 x 1/2 = 1/8).  You will have 1/8 of the original strip remaining.