What is x when 17 divided by x equals 40?

In other words, what would the divisor be if the dividend were 17 and the quotient 40?

To find the answer, just divide the dividend by the quotient: 17 ÷ 40 = 0.425

To prove this, let's compute 17 divided by 0.425: 17 0.425 = 40

How does it work?

Asking what the value of x could be when 17 divided by x gives a result of 40, is equivalent to solving the following equation:

17 x = 40

  1. Multiply both sides by x: 17 x x = 40 x
  2. 17 x x is equivalent to x x × 17 , which simplifies to 1 × 17 (or just 17 ).
  3. Thus, the equation becomes: 17 = 40 x
  4. To find x, divide both sides by 40: 17 40 = 40 x 40
  5. Which gives, after simplification: 0.425 = x (or x = 0.425 )

So, if the dividend is 17 and the quotient is 40, the divisor is 0.425.