71 Divided by What Equals 42?
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 71 by to equal 42?
Solving 71 Divided by What Equals 42
Here’s how you would set up this question as an equation:
71
x
=
42
\frac{71}{x} = 42
x 71 = 42
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 71:
71
=
42
∗
x
71 = 42*x
71 = 42 ∗ x
Then we can isolate x on the right side of the equation by dividing both sides by 42:
71
42
=
x
\frac{71}{42} = x
42 71 = 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
=
1.690
x = 1.690
x = 1.690
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!
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