There are several methods. One I like uses scientific notation for the numbers. Suppose I have two numbers a.b*10^c and d.e*10^f. I want to divide the first by the second. (a.b*10^c)/(d.e*10^f) The result will be (a.b/d.e)*10^(c-f) Now if a.b is greater than or equal to d.e, I know the result will be greater than or equal to 1. The decimal point will go immediately after the first quotient digit. (2.4/1.2 = 2. for example) If a.b is less than d.e, the result will be less than 1. The decimal point will go immediately in front of the first quotient digit. (2.4/4.8 = .5 for example) Example: 243/.0125 = (2.43*10^2)/(1.25*10^-2) = (2.43/1.25)*10^4 = 1.944*10^4 = 19440 Other methods are a variation of this. You can scale the numbers so the divisor is an integer. Example: 1.2398/4.56 = 123.98/456 (both are multiplied by 100) The quotient digit will go above the smallest portion of the dividend that is larger than the divisor. Example: Using the above numbers, 123 < 456; 1239 > 456, so the first quotient digit goes above the 9, which is to say one place to the right of the decimal point. That digit will be 2 and its place value will be 0.2 Another example: 243/.0125 =2430000/125 = 19440 Here is more on division.
