Estimating Decimal Quotients

Example 1: An electrician's apprentice earns $7.58 per hour. If he earned $316.99 last week, then about how many
hours did he work?

Analysis: The phrase about how many indicates that we need to estimate. To solve this problem, we will
estimate the quotient of these decimals. There are many strategies that we could use. We will
use compatible numbers for this problem. The number 7.58 is close to 8 and the number 316.99 is
close to 320.
Estimate:

Answer: The electrician's apprentice worked about 40 hours.

In the example above, we changed the divisor 7.58 to 8 and the dividend 316.99 to 320. The numbers 8 and 320 are
compatible since they make it easy to do mental arithmetic. Let's look at some more examples of estimating decimal
quotients.

Example 2: Estimate the quotient: 4,189 6.3
Analysis: Since 42 6 = 7, we will round 4,189 to 4,200 and 6.3 to 6 .
Estimate:

Answer: The estimated quotient of 4,189 and 6.3 is 700.

In Example 2, each factor was changed to a compatible number. The numbers 4,200 and 6 are compatible since they
make it easy to do mental arithmetic. When estimating decimal quotients, it is easiest to use compatible numbers. This is
the strategy we will use throughout this lesson.

Example 3: Estimate the quotient: 3,041.9 23
Analysis: Since 30 2 = 15, we will round 3,041.9 to 3,000 and 23 to
20.
Estimate:

Answer: The estimated quotient of 3,041.9 and 23 is 150.
Dividing Decimals
by Whole Numbers


Example 1: The Lachance family drove cross country on a 4,615.8 mile trip in 49 days. Find the average number of miles
driven per day.

Analysis: We need to divide 4,615.8 by 49 to solve this problem.
Step 1:
Estimate the quotient using compatible numbers.


Step 2: Use long division to find the quotient.

Decide where to place the first digit of the quotient.






Round to estimate the quotient digit.



Multiply, subtract and compare.






Bring down the next digit from the dividend. Continue dividing.










Bring down the 5.

4 x 49 = 196

Bring down the 8.

2 x 49 = 98

Place the decimal point in the quotient.


Check your answer: Multiply the divisor by the quotient to see if you get the dividend.


Step 3: Compare your estimate with your quotient to verify that your answer makes sense.
Our quotient of 94.2 makes sense since it is close to our estimate of 90.

Division of a Decimal by another Decimal
To divide a decimal by another decimal:
Move the decimal point in the divisor to the right until it is a whole number.
Move the decimal point in the dividend to the right by the same number of places as the decimal point was moved to
make the divisor a whole number.
Then divide the new dividend by the new divisor

Example 36

Solution:


Alternatively, we can divide as follows:



Note:


Example 37

Solution:


Alternatively, we can divide as follows:



Note:


Remember? When you multiply whole numbers by 10, 100, 1000, and so on (powers of ten),
you can simply tag as many zeros on the product as there are in the factor 10, 100, 1000 etc.
There is a similar shortcut for multiplying decimal numbers by numbers such as 10, 100, and
1000:
Move the decimal point to the right as many places as there are zeros in the factor.
10 0 . 4 9 = 04.9 = 4.9

Move the decimal point
one step to the right
(10 has one zero).
100 2 . 6 5 = 265. = 265



Move the decimal point two
steps to the right (100 has
two zeros). The number 265.
is 265 (as shown above).
1000 0 . 3 7 0
=
3
7 0
. =
370



1000 means we move the point
three steps. Write a zero at the
end
of 0.37 so that the decimal point
can jump over to that place.


The shortcut for division by 10, 100 and 1000 (powers of ten) is similar. Can you guess it?
Move the decimal point to the ( left / right ) for as many places (steps) as there are
____________________________ in the factor 10, 100, or 1000.
0 0 2 . 8 100 = 0.028

Move the decimal point two steps
to the ____________. You need to
write zeros in front of the number.
0 0 0 5 6. 10
4
= 0.0056

Move the decimal point four steps
to the ____________. You need to
write zeros in front of the number.