If 12 sweets are shared equally between 3 people, how many does each get?
Step 1: Let's Learn
Read it, or press Listen and follow the words.
That question is written 12 ÷ 3.
Division splits a total into equal groups. The symbol is ÷.
The answer has a name too.
Quotient is the answer to a division.
Equal is the whole point
Sharing 12 as 5, 4 and 3 is not division. The shares have to match.
Step 2: Try It Yourself
Tap and try it out.
12 ÷ 3 = 4
12 shares evenly: each of the 3 groups gets 4, and the pen stays empty.
3 × 4 = 12. 3 and 4 are a factor pair of 12.
Pairs you have found
- 3 × 4
Step 3: In Real Life
At a birthday party
There are 24 slices of pizza and 6 children, and everyone gets the same. That is 24 ÷ 6, so 4 slices each. A parent does this sum every time something has to be shared fairly, from sweets to turns on the tablet.
Step 4: Watch an Example
One step at a time.
Watch Ana Share 12 Sweets
Ana shares 12 sweets equally between 3 friends.
- Step 1
She deals one to each friend in turn, going round.
Step 5: Your Turn
Practice makes it stick.
The Party
Problem 1 of 2
20 balloons are shared equally between 5 children. How many does each get?
balloons
The Library
Problem 2 of 2
18 books are put equally onto 3 shelves. How many on each shelf?
books
Share It Out
1 of 4
10 ÷ 2 = ?
2 of 4
15 ÷ 5 = ?
3 of 4
16 ÷ 4 = ?
4 of 4
20 ÷ 10 = ?
Build the Array
Build it, then check.
Build 3 rows of 4.
1 = 1
1 row of 1 makes 1.
Step 6: Quick Check
Show what you know.
Question 1 of 2
24 ÷ 4 = ?
Question 2 of 2
What must be true about the shares?
What You Learned
- Division splits a total into equal shares.
- 12 ÷ 3 asks how many are in each of 3 shares.
- The answer is called the quotient.
For the grown-up
This lesson is where the child interprets a quotient as the number in each share when a total is split equally. Multiplication is equal groups before it is a fact to recall. Three fours is three groups of four, and division is the same picture asked from the other end.
Watch for multiplication and division being learned as separate subjects. They are one relationship, and a child who sees that halves what there is to remember.
When they are stuck on a division, ask the multiplication instead: "what times 4 gives 24?" Nearly every child can answer that when they cannot answer 24 divided by 4.
Sharing out fairly — You have 12 sweets and 3 friends. Deal them out one at a time, going round and round, until they run out. Each friend ends up with 4. That is 12 ÷ 3 = 4. Dealing is a real procedure you can carry out with objects, which is why sharing is the first meaning of division children meet.
The other meaning: making groups — There is a second question that also gives 12 ÷ 3. Instead of "12 shared between 3 people", ask "how many groups of 3 can I make from 12?" The answer is again 4. These two questions feel completely different but the same division answers both. Noticing this is a real step forward.
When it does not come out evenly — Share 13 sweets between 3 friends and each gets 4 with one left over. That leftover is called a remainder. Most divisions here come out exactly, but knowing leftovers exist stops you assuming every division is tidy.
Deal them out one at a time — 12 sweets shared between 3 children. Give one to each: three gone, nine left. Again: six gone, six left. Again: nine gone, three left. Again: all gone. Count what one child has. Four. 12 ÷ 3 = 4