75 divided by 250? using long division

Question

basically i tried to do 75 divided by 250 using the bus stop aka the long division method but i was not getting the correct answer so i tried to switch it and do 250 divided by 75 instead. why did it work when i put the bigger number on the outside and smaller on the inside?

 

by the way i am talking about the bus stop method.

 

also how do i determine which way the numbers go? in the last method it was a bigger number first which is confusing me 

 

it usually is the smaller number first then the bigger number?

Answer 1

75/250 = (25)(3)/[(25)(10)] = 3/10 =0.3

 

 

      _0.3_

250/75.0

       750

     ______

            0