Multiplication and Division

What is Division?

Division is splitting something equally. For instance, let's say you have 10 raffle tickets, and you'd like to share them with 5 friends.

You divide the tickets among your friends. Each friend gets an equal number of tickets.

See how they each have 2 tickets? When you divide 10 tickets among your five friends, you create 5 equal groups of 2 tickets.

Division happens a lot in real life. For instance, consider the situation below.

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  Imagine we have 6 cupcakes...

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  Imagine we have 6 cupcakes... and 2 empty trays.

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  We'll place an equal number of cupcakes on each tray. In other words, we'll divide the cupcakes between the two trays.

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  We'll place an equal number of cupcakes on each tray. In other words, we'll divide the cupcakes between the two trays.

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  We'll place an equal number of cupcakes on each tray. In other words, we'll divide the cupcakes between the two trays.

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  We'll place an equal number of cupcakes on each tray. In other words, we'll divide the cupcakes between the two trays.

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  We'll place an equal number of cupcakes on each tray. In other words, we'll divide the cupcakes between the two trays.

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  We'll place an equal number of cupcakes on each tray. In other words, we'll divide the cupcakes between the two trays.

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  We'll place an equal number of cupcakes on each tray. In other words, we'll divide the cupcakes between the two trays.

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  The six cupcakes have been divided into 2 equal groups.

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  Let's count the cupcakes to find out how many are in each group.

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  Let's count the cupcakes to find out how many are in each group.

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  Let's count the cupcakes to find out how many are in each group.

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  Let's count the cupcakes to find out how many are in each group.

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  Let's count the cupcakes to find out how many are in each group.

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  Let's count the cupcakes to find out how many are in each group.

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  Let's count the cupcakes to find out how many are in each group.

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  Each tray has 3 cupcakes. If you start with six cupcakes and divide them into two equal groups, then each group has three cupcakes.

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 Writing Division Expressions

In the slideshow, you saw that we divided six cupcakes into two equal groups. To figure out the number of cupcakes that are in each group, you could write a division expression like this:

6 / 2 = ___

You could also write the expression like this:

6 ÷ 2 = ___

You can read either expression as six divided by two. The division sign (/ or ÷) means something is being divided. This is why we always put it after the first number — there were 6 cupcakes, and we divided them into 2 groups.

Many real-life situations can be expressed with division. For example, imagine you're placing 15 cans on 3 shelves. You can divide to make sure you put the same number of cans on each shelf. In other words, 15 cans divided by three shelves, or 15 / 3.

Now you try it. Try setting up these situations as division expressions. Don't try to solve them yet.

You earn $16 for 2 hours of work.

A florist has 18 roses and divides them equally between 3 vases.

You have 6 treats to share equally with your 3 dogs.