Dividing Decimals

U03_L2_T2_we3 Dividing Decimals

We need to divide 0.25
into 1.03075.

Now the first thing you want to
do when your divisor, the

number that you're dividing into
the other number, is a

decimal, is to multiply it by
10 enough times so that it

becomes a whole number
so you can shift the

decimal to the right.

So every time you multiply
something by 10, you're

shifting the decimal over
to the right once.

So in this case, we want
to switch it over the

right once and twice.

So 0.25 times 10 twice is the
same thing as 0.25 times 100,

and we'll turn the
0.25 into 25.

Now if you do that with the
divisor, you also have to do

that with the dividend,
the number that

you're dividing into.

So we also have to multiply this
by 10 twice, or another

way of doing it is shift
the decimal over

to the right twice.

So we shift it over
once, twice.

It will sit right over here.

And to see why that makes
sense, you just have to

realize that this expression
right here, this division

problem, is the exact same
thing as having 1.03075

divided by 0.25.

And so we're multiplying
the 0.25 by 10 twice.

We're essentially multiplying
it by 100.

Let me do that in a
different color.

We're multiplying it by 100
in the denominator.

This is the divisor.

We're multiplying it by 100, so
we also have to do the same

thing to the numerator, if we
don't want to change this

expression, if we don't want
to change the number.

So we also have to multiply
that by 100.

And when you do that,
this becomes 25, and

this becomes 103.075.

Now let me just rewrite this.

Sometimes if you're doing this
in a workbook or something,

you don't have to rewrite it as
long as you remember where

the decimal is.

But I'm going to rewrite
it, just so it's

a little bit neater.

So we multiplied both
the divisor and

the dividend by 100.

This problem becomes 25
divided into 103.075.

These are going to result in
the exact same quotient.

They're the exact same fraction,
if you want to view

it that way.

We've just multiplied both the
numerator and the denominator

by 100 to shift the decimal
over to the right twice.

Now that we've done that,
we're ready to divide.

So the first thing, we have 25
here, and there's always a

little bit of an art to dividing
something by a

multiple-digit number, so we'll
see how well we can do.

So 25 does not go into 1.

25 does not go into 10.

25 does go into 103.

We know that 4 times 25
is 100, so 25 goes

into 100 four times.

4 times 5 is 20.

4 times 2 is 8, plus 2 is 100.

We knew that.

Four quarters is $1.00.

It's 100 cents.

And now we subtract.

103 minus 100 is going to
be 3, and now we can

bring down this 0.

So we bring down that 0 there.

25 goes into 30 one time.

And if we want, we could
immediately put

this decimal here.

We don't have to wait until
the end of the problem.

This decimal sits right in that
place, so we could always

have that decimal sitting right
there in our quotient or

in our answer.

So we were at 25 goes
into 30 one time.

1 times 25 is 25, and then
we can subtract.

30 minus 25, well,
that's just 5.

I mean, we can do all this
borrowing business, or

regrouping.

This can become a 10.

This becomes a 2.

10 minus 5 is 5.

2 minus 2 is nothing.

But anyway, 30 minus 25 is 5.

Now we can bring down this 7.

25 goes into 57 two
times, right?

25 times 2 is 50.

25 goes into 57 two times.

2 times 25 is 50.

And now we subtract again.

57 minus 50 is 7.

And now we're almost done.

We bring down that 5
right over there.

25 goes into 75 three times.

3 times 25 is 75.

3 times 5 is 15.

Regroup the 1.

We can ignore that.

That was from before.

3 times 2 is 6, plus 1 is 7.

So you can see that.

And then we subtract, and then
we have no remainder.

So 25 goes into 103.075 exactly
4.123 times, which

makes sense, because 25 goes
into 100 about four times.

This is a little bit larger than
100, so it's going to be

a little bit more
than four times.

And that's going to be the
exact same answer as the

number of times that 0.25
goes into 1.03075.

This will also be 4.123.

So this fraction, or this
expression, is the exact same

thing as 4.123.

And we're done!