40 Divided by What Equals 2?
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 40 by to equal 2?
Solving 40 Divided by What Equals 2
Here’s how you would set up this question as an equation:
40
x
=
2
\frac{40}{x} = 2
x 40 = 2
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 40:
40
=
2
∗
x
40 = 2*x
40 = 2 ∗ x
Then we can isolate x on the right side of the equation by dividing both sides by 2:
40
2
=
x
\frac{40}{2} = x
2 40 = 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
=
20.000
x = 20.000
x = 20.000
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 36 equals 28?
52 divided by what equals 7?
What is 2/12 divided by 58?
What is 4/16 divided by 8/5?
What is 42 divided by 14/19?