72 Divided by What Equals 4?
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 72 by to equal 4?
Solving 72 Divided by What Equals 4
Here’s how you would set up this question as an equation:
72
x
=
4
\frac{72}{x} = 4
x 72 = 4
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 72:
72
=
4
∗
x
72 = 4*x
72 = 4 ∗ x
Then we can isolate x on the right side of the equation by dividing both sides by 4:
72
4
=
x
\frac{72}{4} = x
4 72 = 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
=
18.000
x = 18.000
x = 18.000
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 90 equals 31?
50 divided by what equals 40?
What is 18/17 divided by 56?
What is 2/13 divided by 20/8?
What is 84 divided by 19/4?