Question

How do I find the quotient of $\dfrac{3}{8}$ and $2$ ?

Answer 1

Hint: In this question, we have been asked to find the quotient of two given numbers. Put the sign of division between the terms; convert the sign of division into a sign of multiplication by reciprocating the term. Multiply and find your answer in decimals also.

Complete step by step answer:
We are given two numbers and we have been asked to find the quotient. It is not clearly mentioned what we have to do, so let us find out what the question actually means.
The question says to find the quotient of $\dfrac{3}{8}$ and $2$ . It only means that we have to divide $\dfrac{3}{8}$ by $2$ . Mathematically, we can write the question as –
$ \Rightarrow \dfrac{3}{8} \div 2$
We know that whenever there is a sign of division, we reciprocate the term and put a sign of multiplication between the terms. Hence, it can be written as –
$ \Rightarrow \dfrac{3}{8} \times \dfrac{1}{2} = \dfrac{3}{{16}}$
Hence, the quotient of $\dfrac{3}{8}$ and $2$ is$\dfrac{3}{{16}}$ .

Note: Let us see how we can convert $\dfrac{3}{{16}}$ into decimals. I will use a long division method for this purpose. We will put numerator as the dividend and denominator as divisor as shown below:
$16)\overline 3 $
Now, we can see that our divisor is smaller than the dividend, so we will put a point as the numerator and we will add a zero to the dividend. Then, we will simply follow the steps of long division. It is done as below:
$\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}
  {{\text{ }}0.1} \\
  {16)\overline {{\text{ }}30} } \\
  {{\text{ }}16} \\
  {{\text{ }}\left( - \right)} \\
  {{\text{ }}\overline {{\text{ }}14} }
\end{array}$
Now, we will again add a zero to the new dividend because our new dividend is still smaller than the divisor.
$\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}
  {{\text{ }}0.18} \\
  {16)\overline {{\text{ }}30} } \\
  {{\text{ }}16} \\
  {{\text{ }}\left( - \right)} \\
  {{\text{ }}\overline {{\text{ }}140} } \\
  {{\text{ }}128} \\
  {{\text{ }}\left( - \right)} \\
  {{\text{ }}\overline {{\text{ }}12} }
\end{array}$
Repeat this step again for 2 more times and you will get your answer as $0.1875$.