What is x when 85 divided by x equals 40?

To find the answer, just divide the dividend by the quotient: 85 ÷ 40 = 2.125

To prove this, let's compute 85 divided by 2.125: $\frac{85}{2.125} = 40$

How does it work?

Asking what the value of x could be when 85 divided by x gives a result of 40, is equivalent to solving the following equation:

$\frac{85}{x} = 40$

Multiply both sides by x: $\frac{85 x}{x} = 40 x$
$\frac{85 x}{x}$ is equivalent to $\frac{x}{x} \times 85$ , which simplifies to $1 \times 85$ (or just $85$ ).
Thus, the equation becomes: $85 = 40 x$
To find x, divide both sides by 40: $\frac{85}{40} = \frac{40 x}{40}$
Which gives, after simplification: $2.125 = x$ (or $x = 2.125$ )

So, if the dividend is 85 and the quotient is 40, the divisor is 2.125.