Calculate 2/5 of 40: Finding Girls in a First Grade Class

To solve this problem, we will follow these steps:

• Step 1: Identify the given information and apply the formula.
• Step 2: Perform the necessary multiplication.

Let's begin:
Step 1: We know that there are 40 students in total, and $\frac{2}{5}$ of them are girls. According to the formula:
$\text{Number of girls} = 40 \times \frac{2}{5}$

Step 2: Perform the multiplication:
$\text{Number of girls} = 40 \times \frac{2}{5} = \frac{40 \times 2}{5} = \frac{80}{5}$

Dividing 80 by 5 gives us:
$\frac{80}{5} = 16$

Thus, the number of girls in the class is 16.

Therefore, the solution to the problem is $16$.