Divide a number with decimals by whole numbers

We've already looked at how to divide and, up until now, our answers have always been whole numbers. Now we are going to look at division questions that have decimal answers.

Dividing by 10

Remember that when we write a decimal, the digits that we write go in certain columns.

This number is $12.9$12.9. It has a $1$1 in the tens column, a $2$2 in the units column, and a $9$9 in the tenths column. The rest of the columns have nothing, or zero, in them (even though we don't normally write all these zeros).

Now, let's say we have $5$5 tens.

What happens if we divide these $5$5 tens by $10$10?

Well, we end up with $5$5 ones!

What about if we have $3$3 hundreds? What happens when we divide this by $10$10?

We end up with $3$3 tens!

Do you see a pattern?

Worked Example

Question 1

Let's say we have the number $128$128, and we want to divide it by $10$10. 

$128$128 has:

• $1$1 hundred, which will become $1$1 ten.
• $2$2 tens, which will become $2$2 ones.
• $8$8 units, which will become $8$8 tenths.

So, we just move the digits like so.

We just shifted all the digits down a column to the right! This gives us our answer $128\div10=12.8$128÷​10=12.8.

DIVIDING BY 100

Now, what happens when we have $3$3 hundreds and we want to divide this by $100$100?

Well, end up with $3$3 ones!

What's the pattern now?

Worked Example

Question 2

What's $79\div100$79÷​100?.

$79$79 has:

• $7$7 tens, which will become $7$7 tenths.
• $9$9 units, which will become $9$9 thousandths.

So, we just move the digits two columns down to the right!

Dividing by 10, 100, 1000, 10000, etc.

There is a simple rule we can use for dividing any decimal by $10$10, $100$100, $1000$1000, $10000$10000, etc.

Try using the GeoGebra Applet below to see this for yourself!

Dividing by any whole number

Whenever you're dividing a decimal by any whole number, you can just perform long division as usual, as if the decimal point isn't there! Let's try an example.

Worked Example

Question 3

Further Examples

Question 4

Question 5