What is the quotient of $306.80 divided by 14 to the nearest cent?

This is a multiple choice question and the alternatives are as follows a.$ 21.92 b.$ 2.62 c. $ 21.91 d. $ 2.63

1 Answer
Nov 26, 2017

$306.80 divided by 14 is $21.91

Explanation:

You can estimate this answer.

Sometimes an estimate is perfect -- all you need
For example, if you have a multiple choice question, you may not even have to do any math at all.

Suppose the answer choices are
A) $4295.20
B) $ 219.14
C) $ 42.95
D) $ 21.91

You would be able to avoid doing any math at all if you noticed that the problem is almost the same as 300 #-:# 14.

14 goes in to 300 around 20 times, so no answer but D) is even close.

300 / 14 #~~# 2 _

This is close enough, and it's only an estimate anyway, so there is no use doing any more. This isn't even the real problem.
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Of course, the other way to answer this problem without doing any work is to solve it on a calculator.

That's what you'd have to do with the actual multiple choices you were given. That's because the only 2 good choices are so close that you can't just "estimate" the correct one.

You know that the choices are either
a. $ 21.92 or c. $ 21.91
because the answer is around $20, not $2.

If you really don't know how to find the actual answer, just eliminate the two wrong answers (b. and d.) and just pick either a. or c.
You have already beaten the odds by eliminating two answers, and there is no use just staring at the problem spinning your wheels while your minutes are burning up.

Just pick one and move on.
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Meanwhile, not knowing how to do long division by hand is a handicap and you should try to get a few brief lessons and practice sessions somewhere.
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The other issue is in the rounding.
The calculator gives an answer of
#21.91color(red)(4)2#
.........#uarr#
It may not be clear that the 4 which follows #21.91# is not big enough to change it up to #21.92.#

Any number after #21.91# that is less than 5 is not enough to bump it up, so you don't round up in this case.

That makes the answer
c. #$21.91#