Arithmetic Grade Five

Lesson Ten: Division Review

Although it takes a lot longer, you can find the answer to a division problem by using subtraction. Let's say you have the division problem 9 divided by 3. The number of times we can subtract 3 from 9 is the answer to the problem: 

      9 - 3 = 6
      6 - 3 = 3
      3 - 3 = 0
Here we were able to subtract 3 from 9 three times and so the answer to 9 divided by 3 is 3. The answer to a division problem, by the way, is called the quotient.

There are three ways of representing a division problem:
20 divided by 5 equals 4.
Division Hut Division Symbol Slash

We will almost always use the slash in our lessons. Just remember that these three ways are all acceptable ways of writing a division number sentence.


Here's another example of how subtraction can be used to find the answer to a division problem. This time we will illustrate the problem 28 divided by 7: 

      28
      -7
     ----
      21
      -7
     ----
      14
      -7
     ----
       7
      -7
     ----
       0
You will notice that we were able to subtract 7 from 28 four times and so the answer to 28 divided by 7 is 4.

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