Division

Find the quotient as in integers; then point off as many decimal places in it of those of the dividend exceed those of the divisor.

Note. If the divisor will not go immediately into the dividend increase the decimal part of the dividend by ciphers.

Examples:

(1) Divide .1728 by 12.

1728 divided by 12 is 144 exactly. The dividend has 4 decimal places and the divisor has 0. Therefore there are 4 – 0 or 4 decimal places in the answer. The answer is .0144.

(2) Divide 1. by 625.

Since 625 does not go immediately into 1, add cipher (i.e. 0’s). 10000 divided by 625 is 16. The dividend now has 4 decimal places (1.0000) and the divisor has 0. Therefore there are 4 decimal places in the answer. The answer is .0016.

(3) Divide 173.712 by .56

173712 divided by 56 is 3102. The dividend has 3 decimal places and the divisor has 2. Therefore there are 3 – 2 or 1 decimal place in the answer. The answer is 310.2.

(4) Divide 16997.4 by 1.349

169974 divided by 1349 is 126. The dividend has 1 decimal place and the divisor has 3. Since 1 – 3 is negative add 2 ciphers (0’s) to the number. The answer is 12600.