Multiplication and division
Division
Dividing shares a number into equal groups, or finds how many equal groups fit. Sometimes there is an amount left over, called the remainder.
How to divide
1. Estimate first — find two easy numbers your answer sits between. 2. Divide from the largest place value, carrying anything left over to the next column. 3. If something is left at the end, that is the remainder.
Worked examples
No remainder: 736 ÷ 8
- Estimate: 720 ÷ 8 = 90, so the answer is about 90.
- Work through the digits: 73 ÷ 8 = 9 remainder 1, then 16 ÷ 8 = 2.
- There is nothing left over.
Answer: 736 ÷ 8 = 92
With a remainder: 97 ÷ 5
- Estimate: 100 ÷ 5 = 20, so the answer is about 20.
- 5 goes into 97 nineteen times: 5 × 19 = 95.
- 97 − 95 = 2 is left over.
Answer: 97 ÷ 5 = 19 remainder 2
Where you see this in real life
- Sharing money equally between members of a group.
- Working out how many days to read a book at a fixed number of pages a day.
- Splitting objects into equal boxes or rows.
Key words
- Divisor
- The number you divide by.
- Remainder
- The amount left over when a number does not divide exactly.
- Inverse operations
- Operations that undo each other, like multiplication and division.