Can somebody help me with this simple math.

[going2breakdown]

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Divide .55 by 204.2 and please show me the fastest way, estimation if necessary.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Vandy91]

The way I go about estimating calculations like this one is to look at it as 50 / 200 = 1/4 or 0.25
Notice how the decimal is 2 places to the left of 55, therefore you move the decimal 2 spots over to reach 0.0025 as your answer.

 

[going2breakdown]

It works! The answer I was given seemed more complicated because it wasn't rounded at all. This makes more sense. Lifesaver!

 

[sciencebooks]

The way I do it is set it up so that the "apparent" numerator is bigger than the denominator using scientific notation.

So for this, I'd do (5 x 10^-1)/(2x10^2) = 2.5 x 10^-3