Division is related to many other kinds of math. It can be thought of as the opposite
of multiplication, or as the repeated subtraction of one number from another. But if you want
to think about it on its own, division is just a way to determine how many times a number
can be broken down by another number.
You can set up a division problem using three different symbols: the fraction slash, the
division sign, or the long division symbol. All three symbols mean divided by.
There are also three names for each part of the division problem. The number you are dividing
is called the dividend. The number you are dividing by is the divisor. The resulting
number is the quotient.
For example: if you want to divide a pizza with 8 slices between 4 people, 8 is the dividend,
4 is the divisor, and the number of slices each person gets, 2, is the quotient.
Sometimes you can't divide numbers up equally.
In that case, there will be something left
over. This leftover number is called the remainder.
If you tried to divide the 8 slices between
3 people, each person would get 2 slices,
and 2 would be left over. These two slices
are the remainder.
And those are the basics of division.