What is division?
Division is about creating equal groups from a number.
You can use division to find out how many groups will be created and how many will be in each group.
Creating equal groups means each group has the same number or amount in it.
Division is the opposite of multiplication.
Activity: What is division
Complete this interactive activity to understand division. Then put your knowledge to the test.
Understanding division
Division is a way to share or group numbers equally.
When you divide, you're finding out how many groups can be made or how many will be in each group.
The division symbol ÷ shows that you’re dividing.
To help with division, you can use objects like counters, or tools like a number line, part-whole model or bar model.
Division is the opposite of multiplication, so knowing your times tables can help too.
If you know that:
Then you know that:
Example 1
When you divide a number by itself the answer will always be one.
If you have 5 apples and share them equally between 5 of your friends. How many apples will each friend get?
✓ Each child will get 1 apple.
5 represents the number of apples. And 5 also represents the number of friends.
5 ÷ 5 = 1
Example 2
When you divide a number by 1, the answer will always be the same as the number you have divided.
If you have 3 dog treats and 1 dog, how many of the treats will your dog get?
✓ The dog will get all 3 treats.
3 represents the number of dog treats. 1 represents the number of dogs.
3 ÷ 1 = 3
Example 3
Mr Cross bakes 40 cakes and stores them in boxes of 10. How many boxes does he need?
✓ Mr Cross needs 4 boxes.
You know 40 represents the number of cakes and 10 represents the number of cakes in each box.
To find out how many boxes are needed, divide 40 cakes by 10 cakes per box.
You can use objects like counters, or tools like a number line, part-whole model, or bar model to help you work this out.
Here are 40 counters, they fill 4 grids of 10:
This number line can be used to count on in steps of 10:
Using tools like these, you can count how many boxes he needs.
1 box holds 10 cakes.
2 boxes hold 20 cakes.
3 boxes hold 30 cakes.
4 boxes hold 40 cakes.
40 ÷ 10 = 4
So, Mr Cross will need 4 boxes.
Example 4
Thomas bakes 15 cakes and wants to share them equally between 5 of his friends. How many cakes will each friend get?
✓ Each friend will get 3 cakes.
You know 15 represents the number of cakes and 5 represents the number of friends.
If you share the cakes out until you have no cakes left and each friend has an equal number of cakes, how many cakes do they have each?
15 divided between 5 equals 3.
15 ÷ 5 = 3
They have 3 cakes each.
More on Number
Find out more by working through a topic
- count21 of 25
- count22 of 25
- count23 of 25
- count24 of 25
