Dividing a Decimal by a Whole Number
Hello everyone! In this week’s post, we are going to talk about dividing a decimal by a whole number.
You already know how to divide a whole number by a whole number by now, right? If not, check out our posts about dividing by a one-digit number here, and dividing by a two-digit number here. Once you review these lessons, we can move on to dividing a decimal by a whole!
Dividing a decimal by a one-digit whole number
Here are steps:
- Divide the number as you normally would, as if there was no decimal point in the number.
- When we bring down the digit that comes after the decimal point, we have to place a decimal point in the quotient.
Example:
Let’s divide 47.5 by 5.
We are going to use normal division and start by dividing 47 by 5.
47 / 5 = 9
9 x 5 = 45
47 – 45 = 2
Now, we have to bring down the next number, but it’s behind the decimal point.
This means that we have to place a decimal point in the quotient.
Now, we divide 25 by 5.
25 / 5 = 5
25 – 25 = 0
We’re done dividing. The answer is 9.5
Dividing a decimal by a two-digit whole number
These are the steps:
1 Divide the number as you would normally, as if there was no decimal point in the number.
2 When we bring down the first digit on the right side of the decimal point, we have to place a decimal point in the quotient.
Example:
Let’s divide 360.57 by 51.
360 / 51 = 7
51 x 7 = 357
360 – 357 = 3
Now, we are going to bring down the 5. But, because it follows the decimal point, we have to place a decimal point in the quotient.
We continue and divide 35 by 51. But 35 is less than 51, so that means we need to add a 0 in the quotient, and then we can bring down the next number.
Now, we’ll divide 357 by 51.
357 / 51 = 7
357 – 357 = 0
We’re done dividing. The answer is 7.07
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Learn More:
- Learn and Practice How to Divide Decimals
- Long Division: Divide by 3 Digit Numbers
- How to Solve a Problem Involving Dividing 2 Digit Numbers
- Divide by a Two Digit Number and an Example
- Learn How to Solve Division with Decimal Numbers
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