In this activity, we will divide numbers by 10, 100 and 1000, giving answers as decimals up to 3 decimal places.

Dividing by 10 moves all digits one place to the right.

Dividing by 100 moves all digits two places to the right.

Dividing by 1000 moves all digits three places to the right and so on.

Remember that when a digit moves from the ones place to the tenths place, it hops over the decimal point.

Examples

2.4 ÷ 10 = 0.24

31.2 ÷ 100 = 0.312

513.4 ÷ 100 = 5.134

5 ÷ 1000 = 0.005

(In the last example we need zeros to fill in the gaps in the columns. These are place holders and we use them to show that there are no ones or tenths etc.)