How to do long division of 5555 / 55

Question

I know this might seem silly, but I am having trouble performing step-by-step long division on $5555 \div 55$.

My main problem is that I don't know when or what the rule is about putting the zeroes. I end up with eleven the way I was taught to calculate it.

"Bring down" the digits one at a time. – André Nicolas Feb 26 '13 at 20:05 — André Nicolas, Feb 26 '13 at 20:05

gt6989b · Answer 1 · 2013-02-26T20:29:45.967

4

Perhaps seeing it this way would give you an idea:

$$5555 = 5500 + 55 = 55*???$$

Further hint

$$5555 = 5500 + 55 = 55 \cdot 100 + 55 \cdot 1 = 55 \cdot ???$$

edited Feb 26 '13 at 20:29

answered Feb 26 '13 at 20:05

gt6989b

54,422

huh? I don't understand what you are getting at – CodyBugstein Feb 26 '13 at 20:15
@Imray see the edited version with another hint. – gt6989b Feb 26 '13 at 20:30
I know what the answer is, I do own a calculator. My question was about the process. – CodyBugstein Feb 27 '13 at 01:30
1

It has nothing to do with a calculator. Note that the decomposition itself implies (because 5500 has 2 zeroes on the right) that you need an extra 0 in division. That comes from bringing things down 1 at a time as was suggested by a couple of people. I tried to explain to you not mechanically where the 0 comes from, but really what happens when you do division - and this is the where the extra 0 really comes from... – gt6989b Feb 27 '13 at 13:48

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 26 '13 at 20:09

3

The traditional grade-school algorithm:

answered Feb 26 '13 at 20:09

Brian M. Scott

616,228

At what point did you put the zero in? – CodyBugstein Feb 26 '13 at 20:15
Oh I see, 55 goes into 0 no times. Then you brought down the next 5... – CodyBugstein Feb 26 '13 at 20:16
2

@Imray: That’s right. I just did it one digit at a time. – Brian M. Scott Feb 26 '13 at 20:20

How to do long division of 5555 / 55

2 Answers2