Final answer:
The missing number in the equation 20/0.1 is 200. Moving the decimal place in both the divisor and dividend helps perform the operation. Understanding these principles is vital for many areas in mathematics.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks what the missing number is in the equation 20/0.1 = ?. To solve this, we must divide 20 by 0.1. When dividing by a decimal, it’s helpful to remember that we are effectively finding out how many times that decimal fits into our number. If you move the decimal point to the right in the divisor (0.1) to make it a whole number (1), you must do the same to the dividend (20) which then becomes 200. Therefore, 20/0.1 = 200.
Think about it as if you are changing cents to dollars (where 100 cents equal 1 dollar); similarly, as 0.1 is one-tenth, 20 divided by one-tenth gives you two hundred tenths, or simply, 200.
Understanding how to perform basic mathematical operations with decimals is important and can be applied to many situations. For example, if you had a disciplinary issue that a 70th percentile was mentioned in, interpreting percentiles is also a part of mathematics. Another scenario could involve understanding proportions or exponential notations, like knowing that 1.6 x 10² = 160, where the decimal is moved two places to the right.