Dividing by 10 and 100
Find the effect of dividing a one- or two-digit number by 10 and 100, identifying the value of the digits as ones, tenths, and hundredths
What a learner can do afterwards
- Calculate 37 ÷ 10 = 3.7 and identify 3 as ones and 7 as tenths
- Calculate 4 ÷ 100 = 0.04 and identify 4 as hundredths
- Explain that dividing by 10 shifts each digit one place to the right
1 · Read
Dividing by 10 or 100 does not erase digits. It moves each digit into a new place value column. Divide by 10, and every digit shifts one place to the right. Divide by 100, and every digit shifts two places to the right.
Now try 4 ÷ 100. The 4 starts in the ones place. Dividing by 100 shifts it two places right, past the tenths column into the hundredths column. There is nothing to fill the tenths spot, so you write a zero as a placeholder: 4 ÷ 100 = 0.04.
Quick check: dividing by 10 moves the decimal point one step left. Dividing by 100 moves it two steps left. The digits themselves never change, only their place value.
Dividing by 10 shifts every digit one place right; dividing by 100 shifts it two places right, changing each digit's value to ones, tenths, or hundredths.
More to read
Dividing decimals by 10, 100, and 1000
Dividing by 10 shifts every digit one place to the right. The number 37 becomes 3.7: 3 ones and 7 tenths.
Dividing by 100 shifts two places right. The number 4 becomes 0.04: 0 ones, 0 tenths and 4 hundredths.
Whole number place value review
Place value names each slot after the shift. In 3.7 the 3 moved from tens into ones while the 7 fell into tenths.
In 0.04 the 4 fell two slots into hundredths. Zeros hold the emptied ones and tenths places.
Writing decimals as fractions review
Decimals and fractions say the same thing. The decimal 0.5 is the fraction 1/2 and 0.04 is 4/100.
So 37 divided by 10 is 37/10, which is 3 and 7/10, written 3.7. The shift and the fraction match.
How to Convert Fractions to Decimals
Turning fractions into decimals shows division at work. Tenths like 7/10 become 0.7 and hundredths like 4/100 become 0.04.
Divide the top by the bottom: 56 divided by 100 is 0.56. Each zero in 10 or 100 adds one decimal place.
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2 · Watch
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Where it sits
Where this leads
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18 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.