Division

Division as Equal Sharing

Divide 15 ÷ 3 by asking: "What times 3 equals 15?" One trial multiplication (3 × 5 = 15) gives the answer — 5 equal groups of 3 with nothing left over.

Example

Divide 15 by 3 with no remainder. Division here means fair sharing: splitting a total into equal groups and asking how many land in each group. Because the total divides evenly, every group ends up the same size with nothing left over, which is exactly what it means for the divisor to divide the total exactly.

highlighted = computed this step

Step 1 — Set up

Start with the division sentence.

15÷315\div 3
Share 15 into 3 equal groupsgroup 1group 2group 315 counters to share

Step 2 — Try multiplication

3 x 5 = 15, so try quotient 5.

3×5=153\times \hl{5}=15
3 groups of 5 make 15group 1: 5group 2: 5group 3: 5

Step 3 — Result

Read the result: 15 ÷ 3 = 5 remainder 0.

15÷3=5 r 015\div 3=5\text{ r }0
Each group gets 5group 1: 5group 2: 5group 3: 5
division-as-sharing Division asks how many equal groups fit into a total. When nothing is left over, the division is exact and the remainder is zero.