Dividing a decimal by a one-digit number

Find the value of nine point four divided by four. Try it first. Pause if you like. 4 times 2 is 8, so it fits. 4 times 3 is 12, too big for 9. So 2 is the biggest that fits. Write 2 in the ones place. Four times two is eight. Nine minus eight leaves one. Put the decimal point directly above the point in nine point four. The remaining one whole is ten tenths. Bring down the four tenths to make fourteen tenths. 4 times 3 is 12, so it fits. 4 times 4 is 16, too big for 14. So 3 is the biggest that fits. Write 3 in the tenths place. Four times three is twelve. Fourteen minus twelve leaves two tenths. The printed digits have run out, but two tenths remain. How can we keep dividing? Append a zero in the hundredths place. Nine point four equals nine point four zero. The two tenths become twenty hundredths. 4 times 5 is 20, so it fits. 4 times 6 is 24, too big for 20. So 5 is the biggest that fits. Share these twenty hundredths equally into four groups. Each group has five hundredths. Write five in the hundredths place. Four times five is twenty. Twenty minus twenty is zero, so the division ends. Nine point four divided by four equals two point three five. The appended zero let us keep dividing the amount that remained. No value was added.

Divide seventeen by seven. Give your answer correct to two decimal places. Try it first. Pause if you like. Write seventeen divided by seven. To round to two decimal places, we will need the third decimal digit. 7 times 2 is 14, so it fits. 7 times 3 is 21, too big for 17. So 2 is the biggest that fits. Write 2 in the ones place. Seven times two is fourteen. Seventeen minus fourteen leaves three. Write the decimal point and append a zero. Three ones become thirty tenths. 7 times 4 is 28, so it fits. 7 times 5 is 35, too big for 30. So 4 is the biggest that fits. Write 4 in the tenths place. Seven times four is twenty-eight. Thirty minus twenty-eight leaves two tenths. Append another zero. Two tenths become twenty hundredths. 7 times 2 is 14, so it fits. 7 times 3 is 21, too big for 20. So 2 is the biggest that fits. Write 2 in the hundredths place. Seven times two is fourteen. Twenty minus fourteen leaves six hundredths. We have two decimal places. Can we round yet? We still need the next digit. Append a third zero. Six hundredths become sixty thousandths. 7 times 8 is 56, so it fits. 7 times 9 is 63, too big for 60. So 8 is the biggest that fits. Write 8 in the thousandths place. Seven times eight is fifty-six. Sixty minus fifty-six leaves four thousandths. The quotient is two point four two eight, and it continues. The dots show that the division has not ended. The third decimal digit is eight. Eight is five or more, so the hundredths digit goes up from two to three. The answer is two point four three, to two decimal places. Keep dividing until it ends, or work one place beyond the rounding requested.