Accepted Solution
Seeing a mathematical question like "17 divided by What equals 10?" is not uncommon. In equations like this, the "What" is actually represented by a variable. The variable most commonly used in mathematics is "x". So we can rephrase this question as What number x can we divide 17 by to get 10?
Setting up the EquationThe problem can be laid out like this: $ \frac{17}{x} = 10$. We want to isolate x, that's our end goal. Here, it can be done in two steps. The first step is multiplying both sides by x which gives us 17 = 10x. On the next steps, both sides are divided by 10 to get x isolated resulting in $ \frac{17}{10} = x$.
Solving the EquationWhen you simplify this equation, it becomes possible to solve for x. For this instance, x = 1.700, rounding to three decimal places. Try these other problems for practice!