Page 1 of 5

Dividing Decimals
BEFORE

Now
Youll divide decimals.

WHY?

You divided whole numbers.

So you can find the price of a trading card, as in Example 3.

In the Real World

Word Watch
compatible numbers, p. 67

Ticket Prices The cost of 21 tickets to see Blue Man Group is $761.25. How much does each ticket cost?
You can use long division to divide a decimal by a whole number. Divide as with whole numbers. Then line up the decimal points in the quotient and the dividend.
EXAMPLE

2002 Blue Man Group/Photo by James Porto

Dividing a Decimal by a Whole Number

To find the cost of each ticket as described above, divide 761.25 by 21. 36.25 6 1 .2 5 217 63 131 126 52 42 105 105 0
Divide as you would with whole numbers. Line up decimal point in quotient with decimal point in dividend.

Stop dividing when you get a zero remainder.

ANSWER Each ticket costs $36.25.

with

Solving

To check the reasonableness of a quotient, use compatible numbers. Compatible numbers are numbers that make a calculation easier. 21 761.25 20 760
Round divisor to place of leading digit. Round dividend to nearest multiple of 20.

You can also check your answer by multiplying the quotient and the divisor to see if you get the dividend: 36.25 21 761.25

Because 760 20 38, the quotient in Example 1 is reasonable. Your turn now
1. 20.1 3

Find the quotient. Then check your answer.

2. 64.35 5 3. 380.32 4

Lesson 2.4

Dividing Decimals

67

Page 2 of 5

Dividing by a Decimal Notice the pattern in the equations below.

632 60 30 2 600 300 2 6000 3000 2

The quotient remains the same when the divisor and the dividend are both multiplied by the same power of 10. You can use this fact to divide by a decimal.

Dividing by a Decimal
Words When you divide by a decimal, multiply both

the divisor and the dividend by a power of ten that will make the divisor a whole number.
Numbers 12.58 .7 5

0.7 7 .5 1258

EXAMPLE

Dividing Decimals
a. 3.804 3.17 b. 8 1.6 c. 0.114 1.9

Divide:
Solution

a. 3.173 .8 0 4
1.2 8 0 .4 3173 317 63 4 63 4 0

To multiply divisor and dividend by 100, move both decimal points 2 places to the right.

Line up decimal points.

b. 1.6 8.0
5 0 168 80 0

To multiply divisor and dividend by 10, move both decimal points 1 place to the right. Write a zero as a placeholder.

tch Out! Wa
Dont forget to write zeros as placeholders in the quotient.

c. 1.9 0 .1 1 4
0.06 .1 4 191 1 14 0

To multiply divisor and dividend by 10, move both decimal points 1 place to the right.

68

Chapter 2

Decimal Operations

Page 3 of 5

Your turn now

Find the quotient. Then check your answer.

5. 0.234 0.3 8. 9 0.3 6. 50.92 1.9 9. 0.208 5.2

4. 110.85 1.5 7. 7.2 0.12

EXAMPLE

Rounding a Quotient

Trading Cards You buy a pack of 8 trading cards for $1.49. Find the price of each card. Round to the nearest cent.
with

C AT C HA FIRS ES RE M T RB C AT CS HE AN T TOP OIR S HP TCH DR LE E FI OUT D EL I F T U O OND SEC

Solving

Solution 1 Divide $1.49 by 8. 0.186 .4 9 0 81 8 69 64 50 48 2

KEVIN BAKER

In Example 3, you are rounding to the nearest cent, or hundredth. Divide only until the quotient reaches the thousandths place. Then round.

Write zero as a placeholder. Stop dividing when quotient reaches the thousandths place.

2 Round the quotient to the nearest cent. $.186 ANSWER The price of each card is about $.19.

$.19

Exercises
More Practice, p. 706

INTERNET

eWorkbook Plus
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Getting Ready to Practice

1. Vocabulary What two compatible numbers would you use to estimate

the quotient 54.2 6.7?

Find the quotient. Then check your answer.

2. 3.45 15 6. 0.201 6.7 3. 12.74 2.6 7. 1.376 21.5 4. 9 7.2 8. 8.7822 3.57 5. 80.84 9.4 9. 0.3445 6.5

10. Knitting You are knitting a scarf using 4 balls of yarn. The yarn costs a

total of $24.88. How much does 1 ball of yarn cost?

Lesson 2.4

Dividing Decimals

69

Page 4 of 5

Practice and Problem Solving

with
Example 1 2 3

Homework

Find the quotient. Then check your answer.

11. 342.4 32 14. 1500.96 16 17. 367.7 3.677 20. 3.744 11.7 23. 4.03 0.5 12. 172.2 82 15. 7 1.4 18. 0.245 4.9 21. 30.94 9.1 24. 0.02997 9.99 13. 2541.18 41 16. 13 6.5 19. 1.387 0.19 22. 25.08 4.56 25. 0.288 3.6

Exercises 1125 1125 3341

Online Resources
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More Examples eTutorial Plus

26. Number Sense Which quotients are equal? Explain your reasoning. A. 22.5 18 B. 22.5 1.8 C. 225 1.8 D. 2.25 0.18

27. Estimation Copy the division problem at the right.

Then use estimation to place the decimal point in the quotient. Explain your reasoning.

32 1 .2 3 2 9.763

Use compatible numbers to estimate the quotient.

28. 104.26 4.98 29. 1206.47 29.2 30. 1.90 2.007

31. Car Wash Your class is holding a car wash to raise money for a field

trip. You earn $4.75 for each car you wash. Estimate the number of cars you need to wash to reach your goal of $750.
32. Critical Thinking If you divide 25.6 by a number and the quotient

is 100, is the number greater than 1 or less than 1? Explain your reasoning.

Find the quotient. Round your answer to the nearest hundredth.

33. 0.245 6 36. 37.857 7.5 39. 73.435 3.8 34. 12 6.4 37. 9.97 2.9 40. 23.5 0.66 35. 68 3.1 38. 18.01 3.28 41. 10.5 0.37

Algebra Evaluate the expression when x 8.5 and z 39.1.

z 43. 0.23 44. 50z p 170.68 x x A 45. Geometry Use the formula w , where w is l

42. 31.535 x z

width, l is length, and A is area, to find the width of the rectangle.

A 45.147 cm 2 w l 8.94 cm

46. Decide If you want to find out how many times heavier an alligator is

than an iguana, would you multiply or divide ? Explain your reasoning.

70

Chapter 2

Decimal Operations

Page 5 of 5

Extended Problem Solving In Exercises 4749, use the following information. In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory, 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River, from France for $15,000,000. In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000, about $.02 per acre.
47. About how many acres were acquired in the purchase of Alaska? 48. Measurement Use the fact that 1 mi2 640 acres to find the number

of square miles that were acquired in the purchase of Alaska.

49. Critical Thinking How much did the United States pay for each square

mile of the Louisiana Territory? for each square mile of Alaska? Which was a better deal? Explain your reasoning. with

Review

Describe the pattern. Then write the next three numbers.

50. 253.75, 50.75, 10.15, 2.03, . . . 51. 46.875, 18.75, 7.5, 3, . . .

Need help with describing and extending patterns? See p. 5.

52. Challenge A rectangle has a length of 12.3 feet and a width of 5.6 feet.

Another rectangle has a length of 49.2 feet and a width of 22.4 feet. How many times greater is the perimeter of the larger rectangle than the perimeter of the smaller rectangle? How many times greater is the area of the larger rectangle than the area of the smaller rectangle?

Mixed Review
Evaluate the power. (Lesson 1.3)
53. 52 54. 43 55. 74 56. 35

Find the product. Then check that your answer is reasonable. (Lesson 2.3)
57. 2.14 78.5 58. 0.89 43 59. 31.2 7.4 60. 46.5 0.032

Basic Skills Write the number in standard form.

61. One hundred thirty thousand, seven hundred sixteen 62. Eleven thousand, seven hundred twenty-four

Test-Taking Practice
INTERNET

63. Multiple Choice Which quotient is equal to 1.6?

State Test Practice

CLASSZONE.COM

A. 0.008 0.05

B. 8 0.05

C. 0.8 0.05

D. 0.08 0.05

64. Multiple Choice What is the value of the expression 2.4 5.6 0.02?

F. 4.282

G. 228.4

H. 282.4

I. 400

Lesson 2.4

Dividing Decimals

71