Division Worksheets

Manipulatives can help students "get" the concept of division. For example, students could regroup base ten blocks into units, then divide the units into piles. For example, 81 ÷ 9 would end up being 9 piles of 9 units.

Division is essentially asing the question, "How many _____'s are in _____?" For the question, 81 ÷ 9, the prompt would sound like, "How many 9's are in 81?" This prompt will benefit students in later math studies when there are more complex concepts such as dividing decimals or fractions. "How many thirds are in four?" or even better,, How many third cups are in four cups?" If necessary, get out the measuring cups.

Need an easier way to divide large numbers? Try this method using powers of ten. To successfully use this method, students need to be able to multiply by powers of ten and to subtract. Students subtract the dividend multiplied by decreasing powers of ten until they have zero or a remainder. Example: 1458 ÷ 54. Note 54 × 1 = 54, 54 × 10 = 540 (nothing greater is needed). 1458 - 540 - 540 = 378. Note that 540 was subtracted twice, so the number of times that 54 "goes into" 1458 so far is 20 times. Continuing, 378 - 54 - 54 - 54 - 54 - 54 - 54 - 54 = 0. Since 54 was subtracted seven times, the quotient increases by seven for a total of 27. In other words, 54 "goes into" 1458, 27 times.

We might also mention that this method can be even more sophisticated by using multiples of powers of ten. In the above example, using 54 × 5 = 270 would have helped to get to the quotient quicker.

Have you ever thought that you could help a student understand things better and get a more precise answer while still using remainders? It's quite easy really. Remainders are usually given out of context, including on the answer keys below. A remainder is really a numerator in a fractional quotient. For example 19 ÷ 3 is 6 with a remainder of 1 which is more precisely 6 1/3. Using fractional quotients means your students will always find the exact answer to all long division questions, and in many cases the answer will actually be more precise (e.g. compare 6 1/3 with 6.3333....).

We thought it might be helpful to include some long division worksheets with the steps shown. The answer keys for these division worksheets use the standard algorithm that you might learn if you went to an English speaking school. Learning this algorithm by itself is sometimes not enough as it may not lead to a good conceptual understanding. One tool that helps students learn the standard algorithm and develop an understanding of division is a set of base ten blocks. By teaching students division with base ten blocks first then progressing to the standard algorithm, students will gain a conceptual understanding plus have the use of an efficient algorithm for long division. Students who have both of these things will naturally experience more success in their future mathematical studies.

Some students find it difficult to get everything lined up when completing a long division algorithm, so these worksheets include a grid and wider spacing of the digits to help students get things in the right place. The answer keys include the typical steps that students would record while completing each problem; however, slight variations in implementation may occur. For example, some people don't bother with the subtraction signs,some might show steps subtracting zero, etc.

Divisibility by 2, 5 and 10

A number is divisible by 2 if the final digit (the digit in the ones place) is even. Numbers ending in 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 therefore are divisible by 2. A number is divisible by 5 if the final digit is a 0 or a 5. A number is divisible by 10 if the final digit is a 0.

Divisibility by 3, 6 and 9

A number is divisible by 3 if the sum of its digits is divisible by 3. For example, 285 is divisible by 3 because 2 + 8 + 5 = 15 is divisible by 3. A number is divisible by 6 if it is divisible by both 3 and 2 (see above rules). A number is divisible by 9 if the sum of its digits is divisible by 9. For examples, 285 is not divisible by 9 because 2 + 8 + 5 = 15 is not divisible by 9.

Divisibility by 4, 7 and 8

A number is divisible by 4 if the last two digits of the number are divisible by 4. For 7, there are a couple of strategies to use. Please see Divisibility Tricks for Learning Math for more information. A number is divisible by 8 if the last three digits are divisible by 8. This is the standard rule which can be a little sketchy for larger numbers, like who knows if 680 is divisible by 8? Because of this, we offer our Math-Drills.com solution which requires a little arithmetic, but can be accomplished quite easily with a little practice. As you know 8 is 2 to the third power, so we thought if you could divide the last three digits of a number by 2 three times, it would be divisible by 8. 680 ÷ 2 ÷ 2 ÷ 2 = 340 ÷ 2 ÷ 2 = 170 ÷ 2 = 85. We have a winner! 680 is indeed divisible by 8.