ffirs.indd

Simple Division 131
If you are watching a cricket match and a team has scored 32 runs
in 8 overs, how many runs per over have they scored? What is their
average run rate? You need to divide 32 by 8 to fi nd the answer. Th e
answer is 4, or 4 runs per over.
32 ÷ 8 = 4
4 × 8 = 32
You need to be able to divide so you know when you are getting
the most for your money. Which is a better value, a 2-liter bottle of
drink for $2.75 or a 1.25-liter bottle for $2.00? You need to be able
to divide to work out which is the better buy.
SIMPLE DIVISION
Many people think division is diffi cult and would rather not have
to do it, but it is really not that hard. I will show you how to make
division easy. Even if you are confi dent with simple division, it
might be worthwhile reading this chapter.
Dividing smaller numbers
If you had to divide 10 candies among 5 people, they would receive
2 candies each. Ten can be divided evenly by 5.
If you divided 33 math books among 4 people, they would each
receive 8 books, and there would be 1 book left over. Th irty-three
cannot be evenly divided by 4. We call the 1 book left over the
remainder. We would write the calculation like this:
8 r1
4 33
Or like this:
4 33
8 r1