What is x when 72 divided by x equals 16?

To find the answer, just divide the dividend by the quotient: 72 ÷ 16 = 4.5

To prove this, let's compute 72 divided by 4.5: $\frac{72}{4.5} = 16$

How does it work?

Asking what the value of x could be when 72 divided by x gives a result of 16, is equivalent to solving the following equation:

$\frac{72}{x} = 16$

Multiply both sides by x: $\frac{72 x}{x} = 16 x$
$\frac{72 x}{x}$ is equivalent to $\frac{x}{x} \times 72$ , which simplifies to $1 \times 72$ (or just $72$ ).
Thus, the equation becomes: $72 = 16 x$
To find x, divide both sides by 16: $\frac{72}{16} = \frac{16 x}{16}$
Which gives, after simplification: $4.5 = x$ (or $x = 4.5$ )

So, if the dividend is 72 and the quotient is 16, the divisor is 4.5.