72 Divided by What Equals 85?
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 85?
Solving 72 Divided by What Equals 85
Here’s how you would set up this question as an equation:
72
x
=
85
\frac{72}{x} = 85
x 72 = 85
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
=
85
∗
x
72 = 85*x
72 = 85 ∗ x
Then we can isolate x on the right side of the equation by dividing both sides by 85:
72
85
=
x
\frac{72}{85} = x
85 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
=
0.847
x = 0.847
x = 0.847
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 77 equals 79?
5 divided by what equals 50?
What is 20/1 divided by 75?
What is 16/19 divided by 14/9?
What is 46 divided by 18/12?