Dividing by 10, 100 or 1000 is the reverse of multiplying. Each digit shifts right by the number of zeros in the divisor. The result is always smaller than the number you started with.
÷ 10 → digits shift 1 place right
÷ 100 → digits shift 2 places right
÷ 1000 → digits shift 3 places right
Thousands
Hundreds
Tens
Units
•
Tenths
Hundredths
4
7
0
•
4
7
•
470 ÷ 10 = 47 — every digit slides one column to the right.
Watch out: Digits move — the decimal point stays fixed. Think of the digits sliding right past the decimal point, not the point moving left.
Dividing by 10, 100 and 1000 appears constantly in everyday maths — converting units down to a larger unit, working out the cost of one item, or reading measuring scales.
Example 1 — Convert 850 cm to metres
Step 1
100 cm = 1 m, so divide by 100 to convert.
Step 2
850 ÷ 100 = 8.5. Answer: 8.5 m
Example 2 — A 1,250 ml jug in litres
Step 1
1,000 ml = 1 litre, so divide by 1000.
Step 2
1,250 ÷ 1,000 = 1.25. Answer: 1.25 litres
Example 3 — Cost of one item
Step 1
10 identical chairs cost £430 in total.
Step 2
430 ÷ 10 = 43. Answer: £43 each
✓ Quick Check 3 — Real-Life Division
Question 1 of 8
Practice
#
Question
Answer
Result
1
6,000 mm in metres (÷ 1000)
2
£72 shared by 100 (÷ 100)
3
3.4 ÷ 10
4
250 cm in metres (÷ 100)
5
8,500 g in kilograms (÷ 1000)
6
450 ÷ 100
7
9.6 ÷ 10
8
3,200 ml in litres (÷ 1000)
9
£15 shared by 10 (÷ 10)
10
780 cm in metres (÷ 100)
⚠ Things to Watch Out For
Confusing the direction with multiplying: Dividing shifts digits RIGHT (the number gets smaller). Multiplying shifts digits LEFT (the number gets bigger) — mixing these up is the most common error.
Just "removing zeros" fails for decimals: The rule is to shift every digit, not just chop off trailing zeros — this only happens to work by coincidence for some whole numbers.
Forgetting leading zeros: When the result is less than 1 (e.g. 56 ÷ 1000 = 0.056), you must add the leading zeros to keep the place value correct.
Miscounting the shifts: ÷ 10 shifts 1 place, ÷ 100 shifts 2 places, ÷ 1000 shifts 3 places — count the zeros in the divisor carefully.
Forgetting real-world units: In conversion problems (mm to m, ml to litres), make sure you're dividing by the correct power of 10 for that specific unit pair.