Thread: Dividing Variables Question

Hi everyone, I'm trying to get my math up to scratch and have been working through a couple of books on the subject. I'm a bit confused by something I've read and I was hoping to get a bit of insight to this problem:

I'm told that:
10a
---- = 2
5a

But I don't understand why it's not 2a instead of just 2.

Thanks
David

Oh, I think I might have worked it out.
Is it because if you divide something by itself then you'll always get 1.
2 x 1 equals 2 anyway so it's not worth writing the 1?

Thanks
David

Yes, and also:
which is true!

You can also write (because it's a multiplication):

Thanks for clearing that up!
David

You're welcome!