Dividing by 10, 100, 1000

You can divide by powers of 10 by shifting the digits of a number to the right, in contrast to multiplication by powers of 10 where you would shift digits to the left.

Dividing by 10

When you divide a number by 10, you move its digits one place to the right.

Here, each digit of 360 shifts one place to the right, turning hundreds into tens and tens into units.

Dividing by 100

To divide by 100, you shift all digits two places to the right.

In this example, all digits in 1400 move two places to the right, resulting in 14.

Dividing by 1000

When you divide by 1000, you’ll shift all the digits three places to the right.

All digits in 12000 move three places to the right, transforming it into 12.

Practice Questions

Question 1:

What is

Solution

54, because you move all the digits one place to the right.

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Question 2:

What is

Solution

78, because you move all the digits two places to the right.

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Question 3:

What is

Solution

25.6, because you move all the digits three places to the right. Since there was no digit in the tenths place originally, a zero is added, resulting in 25.6.

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Question 4:

What is

Solution

102.3, because you move all the digits three places to the right, resulting in 102.3.