Question

Write an expression using the distributive property that can be used to find the quotient of 126 divided by 7

Answer 1

Well, let's discover how many times 7 goes into 126 first.

7 x 11 = 77
7 x 12 = 84
7 x 13 = 91
7 x 14 = 98
7 x 15 = 105
7 x 16 = 112
7 x 17 = 119
7 x 18 = 126

Well, 7 goes into 126 - 18 times - therefore the quotient is 18. The use of the distributive property wouldn't be necessary.

Nevertheless, you could say that:

$\frac { 126 }{ 14 } \\ \\ =\frac { 140-14 }{ 7 } \\ \\ =\frac { 140 }{ 7 } -\frac { 14 }{ 7 } \\ \\ =20-2\\ \\ =18$

* I've used the distributive property above.