Math is something that can go from being tricky to solve, to be the easiest question of all time in a matter of one problem. That’s the beauty of maths; some parts are fun like geometry, while some are made purely for students to lose their brains, yes, we are talking about you, Algebra. Division or dividing something is the concept of breaking something into parts to solve it more efficiently, quite simple right? Well, the division might look simple to you when it is first introduced in your maths workbook, but the difficulty level keeps increasing from there, and being honest, once you encounter them in maths questions, there’s no stopping. They will keep on coming in your exams, and eventually, division becomes like addition and subtraction.
Today we are going to talk about different methods of dividing a number such as how to divide decimals, how to divide polynomials and fractions step by step so you don’t miss any of its steps, and get a wrong answer. So get ready to take your revenge on mathematics by dividing its numbers.
Dividing The Decimals
When you are trying to find an answer to how to divide decimals, you need to get rid of the decimal point from the given number. Now you might have a question, how can we do that? Well, the answer is simple to multiply it with 10 as many times it is needed to get rid of that decimal point.
Once you get the decimal out, half of your problems are done and dusted.
Let’s take an example here.
Q) Divide the Given Decimals Numbers 0.21 and 0.07.
Answer: So, our first number is 0.21, as we can see it has a decimal of up to 2 positions. To remove the decimal point we will multiply it by 100.
0.21X100 = 21
0.07X100 = 7, now, we did the same thing with 0.07; thus, we will get 7.
Hence you are left with 21 and 7. Now divide 21 by 7, and we get 3 as our answer.
Diving The Fractions
In these simple steps, we can solve the division of fractions by converting the division operator into multiplication
Reciprocate the second fraction by interchanging its numerator with the denominator.
Multiply the second fraction with the first one by multiplying the numerators and denominators with each other.
Simplify the fraction, if needed.
Solved Example:- Divide, \[\dfrac{10}{4}\] and \[\dfrac{6}{2}\]
=\[\dfrac{10}{4}\]\[\div\]\[\dfrac{6}{2}\]
=(\[\dfrac{10}{4}\])\[\times\](\[\dfrac{2}{6}\]) (here we reversed the divisor, and then multiplied it with the dividend)
=\[\dfrac{(10\times 2)}{(4 \times 6)}\]
= \[\dfrac{20}{24}\]
= \[\dfrac{5}{6}\]
Dividing The Polynomials Fractions
Now here we are introduced to Algebra in the division; polynomial expressions are the ones that consist of unknown variables. To divide polynomial fractions, you need to simplify it first and then move on to the division operation. We are going to take help from an example to show you how to divide polynomials.
Example:- Divide x3y2z by xy2
Solution: First, you need to write down the given polynomials in the division form, you need to put them in the place of the numerator and denominator.
\[\dfrac{{x}^{3}{y}^{2}z}{x{y}^2}\]
Once you are done with the first step, check the power of polynomials and cancel out the common ones.
= \[\dfrac{{x}^{3}{y}^{2}z}{x{y}^2}\] first we remove the x.
=\[\dfrac{{x}^{2}{y}^{2}z}{{y}^2}\] now we remove another common term (\[y^2\]) from both numerator and denominator.
= \[x^2z\]
Lastly, once the simplification is done, its time uses division operation on the given fraction.
The simplification is done, and we have got the answer, which is \[x^2z\]. That’s your solved example of how to divide polynomial fractions.
Solved Example
Now we know how to solve different types of division questions let's try to address some of the tough ones so that you can understand the working of division in a better way.
Example: Divide 0.8095 by 0.50 to find the answer.
First, from the given numbers, we can see it’s a decimal division question. So the first thing we do is, remove the decimals.
As a result, multiply 0.8095 by 10000 and 0.5 by 10.
This is how it’s going to look.
=\[\dfrac{\dfrac{8095}{10000}\times 10000}{\dfrac{5}{10}\times 10}\]
= \[\dfrac{8095}{5}\]
= \[1619\]
So, the answer is \[1619\].
FAQs on How to Divide
1. What are Divisors and Dividends?
Both of them are your key ingredients if you want to find an answer to a division question. The number which is being divided is said to dividend from the given numbers, and the number used to divide the dividend is your divisor.
Example:- divide 10 from 2 and find out the answer. Here 2 is your divisor, and 10 is your dividend. The result of the division will come out to be 5 as your final answer.
2. Where is the Use of Division in Our Daily Life?
Well, to be honest everywhere, from being in a group project to choreographing a song, you can see traces of dividing your work into parts to complete it more efficiently. Just think about a rock band of four people. The drummer can’t sing, and so does the lead can’t play the guitars. So they divide the instruments and part of their songs so each individual can show their skills and create beautiful music that you listen to.
A great example of division in a rock band was of Led Zepplin, their drummer Jhon Bonham died quite early, and no one in their group could play the drums like he does, so the band stopped touring.