Division is one of the four basic math operations. It means sharing things equally into groups. Let's say we have 12 apples and want to share them equally among 3 children. We write this as 12 divided by 3 equals 4. In this equation, 12 is called the dividend, 3 is the divisor, and 4 is the quotient. Each child gets exactly 4 apples.
There are three main ways to solve division problems. First, we can use multiplication tables by asking what number times 3 equals 12. Second, we can use repeated subtraction, subtracting 3 from 12 until we reach zero, counting how many times we subtract. Third, we can use long division, which is the standard algorithm. All three methods give us the same answer: 4.
Long division follows four simple steps. Let's solve 84 divided by 4. First, we ask does 4 go into 8? Yes, 2 times. We write 2 above the 8. Second, we multiply 2 times 4 equals 8. Third, we subtract 8 minus 8 equals 0. Fourth, we bring down the next digit, which is 4. Now we ask does 4 go into 4? Yes, 1 time. So our answer is 21.
Sometimes when we divide, we don't get a whole number answer. Let's try 17 divided by 3. We can make 5 groups of 3, which uses 15 dots, but we have 2 dots left over. This leftover is called a remainder. So 17 divided by 3 equals 5 remainder 2. We can check our answer by multiplying 5 times 3 plus 2, which equals 17. Remainders can be written as remainders, fractions, or decimals.
Division is everywhere in real life! When we share 24 pizza slices among 6 friends, we divide 24 by 6 to get 4 slices each. If we have 30 students and want groups of 5, we divide 30 by 5 to make 6 groups. At the store, if 3 items cost 15 dollars, we divide 15 by 3 to find each item costs 5 dollars. And when we want to know how many weeks are in 21 days, we divide 21 by 7 to get 3 weeks. Division helps us solve problems every day!