Learning Objectives
- Understand division as equal sharing
- Relate division to multiplication
- Learn to divide using multiplication tables
- Solve simple division word problems
Key Concepts
What is Division?
Division means sharing things equally among a group. If you have 12 chocolates and want to share them equally among 3 friends, each friend gets 12 รท 3 = 4 chocolates. The sign "รท" means "divided by". Division helps us find out how many each person gets when we share equally.
Division and Multiplication are Related
Division is the opposite of multiplication. If 4 x 3 = 12, then 12 รท 3 = 4 and 12 รท 4 = 3. Knowing your multiplication tables makes division easier! When you see 20 รท 5, just think: "5 times what equals 20?" The answer is 4.
Equal Groups
Division can also mean making equal groups. If you have 15 apples and want to put 5 apples in each basket, you can make 15 รท 5 = 3 baskets. So division tells you either how many in each group or how many groups you can make.
Things to Remember
You cannot divide by 0 (it does not make sense to share among zero people). Any number divided by 1 is the same number: 8 รท 1 = 8. Any number divided by itself is 1: 8 รท 8 = 1. Zero divided by any number is 0: 0 รท 5 = 0.
Important Terms
- Division: Sharing a number equally into groups
- Dividend: The number being divided (shared)
- Divisor: The number you divide by (how many groups or how many in each group)
- Quotient: The answer you get after dividing
- Equal Sharing: Giving the same amount to everyone
Quick Revision
- Division is equal sharing
- Division is the opposite of multiplication
- 12 รท 3 = 4 because 3 x 4 = 12
- Any number รท 1 = the same number
- Any number รท itself = 1
- 0 รท any number = 0
- You cannot divide by 0