Math Doubts

Division of Literals

Definition

The process of dividing a literal by another literal number is called the division of literals.

Introduction

A literal number is used to represent an unknown quantity in mathematics. As a beginner, you have to know firstly what happens when a literal is divided by another literal number, and how to divide a literal number by another literal. It helps us to study the algebra easily. So, let’s learn the procedure of dividing the literal numbers mathematically.

Cases

There are two different cases in dividing the literals. So, let’s learn both cases to find their quotients in algebra.

$1$

Division of

Let’s denote an unknown quantity by a letter $a$. Divide the literal number $a$ by itself to find their quotient.

$a \div a$

Now, let’s perform the division of the literal numbers.

$\implies$ $a \div a$ $\,=\,$ $\dfrac{a}{a}$

$\implies$ $a \div a$ $\,=\,$ $\dfrac{\cancel{a}}{\cancel{a}}$

$\,\,\,\therefore \,\,\,\,\,\,$ $a \div a = 1$

$2$

Division of

Let’s denote two unknown quantity by letters $a$ and $b$. Divide the literal number $a$ by $b$ to find their quotient.

$a \div b$

Now, let’s perform the division of the literals.

$\implies$ $a \div a$ $\,=\,$ $\dfrac{a}{b}$

$\,\,\,\therefore \,\,\,\,\,\,$ $a \div a = \dfrac{a}{b}$