3 Divided by What Equals 59?
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 3 by to equal 59?
Solving 3 Divided by What Equals 59
Here’s how you would set up this question as an equation:
3
x
=
59
\frac{3}{x} = 59
x 3 = 59
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 3:
3
=
59
∗
x
3 = 59*x
3 = 59 ∗ x
Then we can isolate x on the right side of the equation by dividing both sides by 59:
3
59
=
x
\frac{3}{59} = x
59 3 = 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
=
0.051
x = 0.051
x = 0.051
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 38 equals 26?
23 divided by what equals 20?
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What is 5/7 divided by 14/2?
What is 43 divided by 12/1?