3 Divided by What Equals 12?
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 12?
Solving 3 Divided by What Equals 12
Here’s how you would set up this question as an equation:
3
x
=
12
\frac{3}{x} = 12
x 3 = 12
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
=
12
∗
x
3 = 12*x
3 = 12 ∗ x
Then we can isolate x on the right side of the equation by dividing both sides by 12:
3
12
=
x
\frac{3}{12} = x
12 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
=
0.250
x = 0.250
x = 0.250
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 97 equals 90?
10 divided by what equals 28?
What is 18/1 divided by 18?
What is 9/12 divided by 20/4?
What is 92 divided by 7/17?