Math Core

You have 12 cookies and 3 friends. How can you share them so everyone gets the same amount? Sharing things fairly is what division is all about.

Sharing fairly

When you share fairly, every group gets the same number. Nobody gets more and nobody gets less.

Let's share 12 cookies among 3 friends. Hand them out one at a time, like dealing cards: one for Ana, one for Ben, one for Cal, then start again. Keep going until the cookies are gone.

Friend	Cookies
Ana	🍪🍪🍪🍪
Ben	🍪🍪🍪🍪
Cal	🍪🍪🍪🍪

Each friend gets 4 cookies. We write this as a division equation:

12 \div 3 = 4

We read it as "12 divided by 3 equals 4."

The parts of a division equation

Each number in a division equation has a job.

Definition

Division

Division splits a total into equal groups. In $12 \div 3 = 4$ :

12 is the total you start with.
3 is the number of groups you share into.
4 is the number in each group. This answer is called the quotient.

The sign $\div$ means "divided by." When you share, you know the total and the number of groups. You are finding how many go in each group.

Dealing out one at a time

You don't have to guess. Just deal the objects out one by one until they are all gone. Then count how many one group has.

Division as sharing

To find $\text{total} \div \text{number of groups}$ :

Make one spot for each group.
Deal the objects out one at a time, round and round.
When they are all gone, count how many are in one group. That is the answer.

Worked example: Sharing apples

Mom shares 10 apples equally into 2 bags. How many apples go in each bag?

Deal them out one at a time:

Bag	Apples
Bag 1	🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎
Bag 2	🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

Each bag has 5 apples.

$10 \div 2 = 5$ .

Worked example: Sharing stickers

Mia has 15 stickers. She gives them out equally to 5 friends. How many stickers does each friend get?

There are 5 groups. Deal the 15 stickers out:

Friend	Stickers
1	⭐⭐⭐
2	⭐⭐⭐
3	⭐⭐⭐
4	⭐⭐⭐
5	⭐⭐⭐

Each friend gets 3 stickers. Check: $3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 15$ . ✓

$15 \div 5 = 3$ .

Worked example: Sharing in a word problem

A teacher has 24 pencils. She puts the same number in each of 4 cups. How many pencils are in each cup?

The total is 24. The number of groups is 4. We need the number in each cup, $24 \div 4$ .

Deal the pencils into 4 cups. After one round, each cup has 1 pencil and 4 are used. After 6 rounds, each cup has 6 pencils and all $6 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 24$ are used.

$24 \div 4 = 6$ . There are 6 pencils in each cup.

Common mistake

The groups must be equal. If one friend gets 5 cookies and another gets 3, that is not fair sharing, and it is not division. Always check that every group has the same number.

Tip

To check your answer, add the groups back up. For $12 \div 3 = 4$ , add $4 + 4 + 4$ . If you get the total, 12, you are right!

Practice

Practice 1

Share 6 grapes equally between 2 plates.

🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇

How many grapes go on each plate?

Type a number.

Practice 2

What is $8 \div 4$ ? Think of sharing 8 balls among 4 kids.

Type a number.

Practice 3

In $20 \div 5 = 4$ , what does the 5 tell you when you share?

Practice 4

Leo shares 16 crackers equally among 4 friends. How many crackers does each friend get?

Type a number.

Practice 5

A farmer puts 30 eggs equally into 6 baskets. How many eggs are in each basket?

Type a number.

Practice 6

Which picture shows 9 stars shared fairly into 3 groups?

Practice 7

Three friends pick 21 strawberries. They share them equally. How many strawberries does each friend get?

Type a number.