Explain what 25 divided by 0.2 means
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Correct Answer:
25 divided by 0.2 equals 125.
Explanation:
The expression 25 ÷ 0.2 represents how many times the number 0.2 fits into 25. To understand this clearly, it helps to think in terms of smaller units. The number 0.2 is the same as one-fifth. So, dividing 25 by 0.2 means determining how many one-fifths are in 25. Since five one-fifths make one whole, it takes five parts of 0.2 to form a single 1. Therefore, for every whole number in 25, five parts of 0.2 exist. Multiplying 25 by 5 gives the total count of those parts, resulting in 125.
Another way to approach this is to eliminate the decimal by scaling both numbers. This process involves multiplying both 25 and 0.2 by 10 to simplify the operation without changing the ratio. Multiplying 25 by 10 gives 250, and multiplying 0.2 by 10 gives 2. Now the new expression becomes 250 ÷ 2, which equals 125. This method uses proportional reasoning, converting a decimal division into a whole-number division, which is easier to compute.
The concept of division by a decimal often causes confusion because smaller numbers appear to make the result bigger. However, dividing by a number less than 1 is the same as asking how many of those smaller parts can be found in a larger quantity. Since 0.2 is smaller than 1, more of it will fit into a larger number like 25.
In conclusion, 25 ÷ 0.2 equals 125 because the number 0.2 fits into 25 exactly 125 times. This type of problem highlights the inverse relationship between division and multiplication, as dividing by a decimal results in a larger number.
