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.
Try it first
Priya has 50 stickers. She shares them equally onto 5 pages. How many stickers on each page?
stickers
Stuck is fine. Let’s Learn shows the way next. Got it first time? You can jump ahead to Watch an Example.
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. People halve, or share by 5 or 10, most of all.
Step 4: Watch an Example
One step at a time.
Watch Ana Divide by Five
Ana works out 20 ÷ 5.
- Step 1
Ana turns it around. She asks: five times what makes 20?
Watch Leo Halve a Number
Leo works out 16 ÷ 2. He starts, and you finish.
- Step 1
Leo reads 16 ÷ 2 as half of 16. Two equal parts.
Step 5: Your Turn
Practice makes it stick.
The Crayon Pots
Problem 1 of 12
A teacher shares 70 crayons equally between 10 pots. How many crayons go in each pot?
crayons
The Nickels
Problem 2 of 12
Ana has 15 cents, all in nickels. A nickel is 5 cents. How many nickels does she have?
nickels
Divide by 2, 5, and 10
Read each one as a fact you already know.
Problem 3 of 12
12 ÷ 2 = ?
Problem 4 of 12
10 stars are in 5 equal rows. Which division tells how many in each row?
Problem 5 of 12
20 ÷ 10 = ?
Find the Mistake
One line on each page is a slip. Find it, then fix it.
Problem 6 of 12
Priya works out 20 ÷ 2. One line is a slip. Which?
Priya's answer for 20 ÷ 2
- 120 ÷ 2
- 2Half of 20 is 40
- Answer20 ÷ 2 = 40
Problem 7 of 12
What should 20 ÷ 2 be?
Problem 8 of 12
Dev works out 50 ÷ 10. One line is a slip. Which?
Dev's answer for 50 ÷ 10
- 150 ÷ 10
- 250 ÷ 10 = 50 − 10
- Answer50 ÷ 10 = 40
Problem 9 of 12
What should 50 ÷ 10 be?
Which Way?
Pick the way that fits the number you divide by.
Problem 10 of 12
80 ÷ 10. Which way starts right?
Problem 11 of 12
25 ÷ 5. Which way starts right?
Build the Division
Build it, then check.
Problem 12 of 12
Build 60 ÷ 10 as an array: 10 rows, 60 in all.
1 × 1 = 1
1 ÷ 1 = 1
1 row of 1 makes 1.
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?
Ready for more?Optional. Past the lesson, for anyone who wants it.
Stretch 1 of 2
Noor divides a number by 2 and gets 4. What was her number?
Stretch 2 of 2
Ana works out 30 ÷ 10. Leo halves a number and gets the same answer. What is Leo's number?
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 slip this lesson targets is doing the opposite move: doubling for ÷ 2, or taking one ten away for ÷ 10. Priya's 20 ÷ 2 = 40 and Dev's 50 ÷ 10 = 40 are both of that kind. Before any counting, ask "should the answer be bigger or smaller?" — sharing always makes the number smaller. The habit to build is turning every division into "5 times what makes…" and counting in fives on the fingers: it is the table the child already owns, read the other way.
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.