Dividing by 2 is halving. Dividing by 10 asks how many tens.
Step 1: Let's Learn
Read it, or press Listen and follow the words.
Dividing by 5
35 ÷ 5 asks what times 5 makes 35. You know it is 7.
Nothing new to learn
You are using the tables you learned last lesson, read the other way.
Step 2: Try It Yourself
Tap and try it out.
35
7
5
- 35 ÷ 5 = 7
How many
12 and 8 make 20. There are 8 empty spaces.
7 and 5 make 12.
Step 3: In Real Life
Splitting the bill
A $30 meal shared by 5 friends is 30 ÷ 5. Nobody at the table works it out slowly. They ask: 5 times what makes 30? Six dollars each. Halving, and sharing by 5 or 10, are the divisions people do most.
Step 4: Watch an Example
One step at a time.
Watch Ana Divide by Ten
Ana is asked for 70 ÷ 10.
- Step 1
She reads it as a question about tens: how many tens make 70?
Step 5: Your Turn
Practice makes it stick.
Fair Shares
Problem 1 of 2
16 apples are shared equally between 2 people. How many each?
apples
Coins Again
Problem 2 of 2
Leo has 45 pence, all in 5p coins. How many coins?
coins
Divide by 2, 5, and 10
1 of 4
14 ÷ 2 = ?
2 of 4
30 ÷ 5 = ?
3 of 4
80 ÷ 10 = ?
4 of 4
50 ÷ 5 = ?
Show the Missing Part
Build it, then check.
12 is 7 and how many? Show that part.
How many
Step 6: Quick Check
Show what you know.
Question 1 of 2
40 ÷ 5 = ?
Question 2 of 2
What is dividing by 2 the same as?
What You Learned
- Dividing by 2 is halving.
- Dividing by 10 asks how many tens.
- Every division is answered by a fact you already know.
For the grown-up
This lesson is where the child divides by 2, 5, and 10 by recalling the matching multiplication fact. 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.
The same three tables, read the other way — If 8 × 5 = 40 then 40 ÷ 5 = 8 and 40 ÷ 8 = 5. Dividing by 2, 5 and 10 needs no new memorizing at all — it needs you to search the table you already know for the missing factor.
Dividing by 2 is halving — 18 ÷ 2 = 9 is the same question as "what is half of 18". Splitting a number into tens and ones helps: half of 18 is half of 10 plus half of 8, which is 5 + 4 = 9. That method keeps working for numbers far too big to remember.
Dividing by ten — 70 ÷ 10 = 7. The digit moves one column right and the zero that was holding the ones place is no longer needed. This only comes out neatly when the number ends in 0 — 75 ÷ 10 is not a whole number, which is a hint of the decimals waiting later.
Read your table backwards — 35 ÷ 5. Ask: five times what makes 35? Count in fives: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35. That was seven steps. 5 × 7 = 35, so 35 ÷ 5 = 7 You did not learn a division table. You read the multiplication one the other way.