5 Divided by What Equals 8?
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 5 by to equal 8?
Solving 5 Divided by What Equals 8
Here’s how you would set up this question as an equation:
5
x
=
8
\frac{5}{x} = 8
x 5 = 8
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 5:
5
=
8
∗
x
5 = 8*x
5 = 8 ∗ x
Then we can isolate x on the right side of the equation by dividing both sides by 8:
5
8
=
x
\frac{5}{8} = x
8 5 = 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
=
0.625
x = 0.625
x = 0.625
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 71 equals 46?
80 divided by what equals 22?
What is 14/15 divided by 91?
What is 13/7 divided by 4/17?
What is 4 divided by 6/19?