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Dividing by 10 and 100

Part of the Decimals, Percents & Ratios section of Coddy's Pre-Algebra journey. Lesson 17 of 56.

Dividing by 10 undoes multiplying by 10, so the point moves one place to the left. 38.2 / 10 is 3.82: every digit drops to a place worth ten times less.

For 100 the point moves two places left, and for 1000 three: again one place per zero. When the digits run out on the left, fill with zeros: 7.5 / 100 is 0.075. The point moves past the 7 and one more place, so a 0 holds the tenths.

A quick check: dividing by 100 should make a number much smaller, and 0.075 is much smaller than 7.5, so the point moved the right way. This is how cents become dollars: 250 cents divided by 100 is 2.50 dollars.

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Work out 45.6 / 100.

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45.6 / 100

Simplify the expression

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