42 Divided by What Equals 3?
Methods
Setting up the problem:
In a problem like this, the “what” means that we’re working with a variable. The most common variable used in math is “x”. So we could say what number, x can we divide 42 by to equal 3?
Solving 42 Divided by What Equals 3
Here’s how you would set up this question as an equation:
42
x
=
3
\frac{42}{x} = 3
x 42 = 3
The goal of the problem is to solve for x. To do this we need to change the equation so that x is alone on one side of the equation.In this case, it can be done in two steps. The first step is to multiply both sides by x to isolate 42:
42
=
3
∗
x
42 = 3*x
42 = 3 ∗ x
Then we can isolate x on the right side of the equation by dividing both sides by 3:
42
3
=
x
\frac{42}{3} = x
3 42 = x
When we simplify the new equation, we can solve for x. In this example, we will round to the nearest three decimal places if that’s needed.
x
=
14.000
x = 14.000
x = 14.000
Practice Other Division Problems Like This One
If this problem was a little difficult or you want to practice your skills on another one, give it a go on any one of these too!
What divided by 32 equals 25?
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