We're dividing 52421 by 3 
We're looking to find how many times 3 goes into 52421.

Advancing to step 1:
When dividing 5 by 3, we get 1 with a remainder of 2.
Put 1 as the next digit of the answer. 
Result so far: 1.0
Deduct 3 from 5 and we're left with 2.
Fetch the next digit (2) from the dividend, attach it to 2 and continue: 22 / 3

On to step 2:
3 goes into 22 7 times with a remainder of 1.
The number 7 becomes the next digit in our result. 
Result so far: 17.0
Subtract 21 from 22 to get 1.
Fetch the next digit (4) from the dividend, attach it to 1 and continue: 14 / 3

Let's proceed to step 3:
When dividing 14 by 3, we get 4 with a remainder of 2.
Use 4 as the next digit of our solution. 
Result so far: 174.0
Subtract 12 from 14 to get 2.
Take the next digit (2) from the dividend and append it to 2, then repeat: 22 / 3

Going ahead to step 4:
If we divide 22 by 3, we get 7 and a remainder of 1.
Record the quotient 7 as the next digit in the result. 
Result so far: 1747.0
If we subtract 21 from 22, we get 1.
Include the next digit (1) from the dividend after 1, then repeat: 11 / 3

Moving on to step 5:
3 goes into 11 3 times with a remainder of 2.
Write down 3 as next digit of the result. 
Result so far: 17473.0
Subtract 9 from 11 to get 2.
Since there are no more digits in the dividend, we add a zero to the remainder making it 20, and continue the process.

Advancing to step 6:
3 goes into 20 6 times with a remainder of 2.
Use 6 as the next digit of our solution. 
Result so far: 17473.6
If we subtract 18 from 20, we get 2.
Since there are no more digits in the dividend, we add a zero to the remainder making it 20, and continue the process.

Step 7:
If we divide 20 by 3, we get 6 and a remainder of 2.
The next digit of our result is 6. 
Result so far: 17473.66
If we take 18 away from 20, we end up with 2.
Since there are no more digits in the dividend, we add a zero to the remainder making it 20, and continue the process.

The quotient of the division is 17473.66, and the remainder is 0.002.