Reviewing Long Division

You can perform division operations involving polynomial expressions using the procedures employed for long division in arithmetic. Here is a typical progression of steps for a long division problem involving whole numbers.

You divide 8600 by 41. It goes 200 times. To indicate that it goes 200 times, you place the 2 in the hundreds place. You multiply 41 by 200 and subtract the product from 8642.

You divide 442 by 41. It goes 10 times. To indicate that it goes 10 times, you place the 1 in the tens place. You multiply 41 by 10 and subtract the product from 442.

At this point, you discover that you cannot divide 32 by 41 and produce a whole number. For this reason, you place a 0 in the 1’s place. To indicate that the division has resulted in a remainder, you show a fraction of 32/41.