What is x when 42 divided by x equals 21?

In other words, what would the divisor be if the dividend were 42 and the quotient 21?

To find the answer, just divide the dividend by the quotient: 42 ÷ 21 = 2

To prove this, let's compute 42 divided by 2: 42 2 = 21

How does it work?

Asking what the value of x could be when 42 divided by x gives a result of 21, is equivalent to solving the following equation:

42 x = 21

  1. Multiply both sides by x: 42 x x = 21 x
  2. 42 x x is equivalent to x x × 42 , which simplifies to 1 × 42 (or just 42 ).
  3. Thus, the equation becomes: 42 = 21 x
  4. To find x, divide both sides by 21: 42 21 = 21 x 21
  5. Which gives, after simplification: 2 = x (or x = 2 )

So, if the dividend is 42 and the quotient is 21, the divisor is 2.