Help please with long division!

[dnorr]

             50000
            --------
         8) 40000
          - 40
           ---------
             00
            - 0
           ---------
               00 
              - 0
           ---------
                00
               - 0
          ----------
                 0

Not sure if I'm doing this correctly. -4000 / -.08 on a calculator comes out to 50,000. Was I correct in adding a zero to 4000? All the zeros can be confusing. Is there an easier way to do this? Thanks.

 

[tkhunny]

Didn't we already go over this?

\(\displaystyle \frac{4000}{0.08}\;=\;\frac{40000}{0.8}\;=\;\frac{400000}{8}\)

Just do one decimal place at a time if you have trouble counting.

Of course, then there is the rest of the story. We just went up by 10s. Now, let's go down by 2s.

\(\displaystyle \frac{400000}{8}\;=\;\frac{200000}{4}\;=\;\frac{100000}{2}\;=\;\frac{50000}{1}\;=\;50000\)

 

[dnorr]

Fair enough? But what if it were a more complex problem, like....

69873 / -0.18

How would I do that without a calculator?

 

[Denis]

Fair enough? But what if it were a more complex problem, like....

69873 / -0.18

How would I do that without a calculator?

Multiply by 100: 6987300 / -18
Use 18 as divisor:

      38
    --------
18 / 6977300
     54
     ---
     157
     144
     ---
      137

Carry on...then put back the negative sign :idea: