Division facts from multiplication | Year 3

01 / LEARN

Understand the idea.

Division finds a missing group number

Division can share a total among a known number of equal groups. If twenty items are shared among five groups, find how many go in each: $20 \div 5 = 4$ . Each group receives four.

Division can also find how many groups fit. For twenty items packed four to a group, $20 \div 4 = 5$ tells you there are five groups. Identify what is known and what the answer will count.

Ask the missing multiplication question

Turn a division into a missing multiplication fact. For $28 \div 4$ , ask how many fours make twenty-eight. Since $4 \times 7 = 28$ , the answer is seven. Equal grouping and equal sharing use the same linked facts.

Check by multiplying the answer by the number you divided by. The product should recover the original total. Then name the answer's unit: seven bags is different from seven items in each bag.

02 / WORKED EXAMPLES

See the method in action.

EXAMPLE 01

Share equally

Share 24 stickers equally between 3 children. How many does each child get?

Worked solution

1
Represent the equal sharing.
$24 \div 3$
Twenty-four stickers are divided between three children.
2
Find the linked multiplication fact.
$3 \times 8 = 24$
Three equal shares of eight use all twenty-four stickers.
3
State and check each share.
$24 \div 3 = 8$
Each child gets eight stickers, with none left over.

Answer

8 stickers each.

EXAMPLE 02

Make groups

Put 35 cards into packs of 5. How many packs can be made?

Worked solution

1
Represent the number of packs.
$35 \div 5$
The total is thirty-five cards and each pack uses five.
2
Find how many fives make thirty-five.
$7 \times 5 = 35$
Seven equal packs account for every card.
3
Interpret the division.
$35 \div 5 = 7$
The result counts packs, so seven packs can be made.

Answer

7 packs.

03 / YOUR TURN

Try it yourself.

Check your understanding

Use 4 × 9 = 36 to find 36 ÷ 9.

Show answer & reasoning

$4 \times 9 = 36$ shows that four groups of nine make thirty-six. Therefore $36 \div 9 = 4$ .

Keep practising

6 worksheet questions

Open worksheet Worked solutions

Read the questions online

Calculate $18 \div 3$ .
Calculate $40 \div 5$ .
Calculate $32 \div 4$ .
Write two division facts linked to $2 \times 9 = 18$ .
Forty counters are shared equally between 4 teams. How many counters does each team get?
There are 30 apples. Each bag holds 3 apples. How many bags are needed?

Read the worked solutions

Calculate $18 \div 3$ .
$3 \times 6 = 18$ .
6
Calculate $40 \div 5$ .
$5 \times 8 = 40$ .
8
Calculate $32 \div 4$ .
$4 \times 8 = 32$ .
8
Write two division facts linked to $2 \times 9 = 18$ .
Each division finds one of the two factors.
$18 \div 2 = 9$ and $18 \div 9 = 2$ .
Forty counters are shared equally between 4 teams. How many counters does each team get?
$40 \div 4 = 10$ ; check $4 \times 10 = 40$ .
10 counters per team.
There are 30 apples. Each bag holds 3 apples. How many bags are needed?
$30 \div 3 = 10$ ; check $10 \times 3 = 30$ .
10 bags.

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Curriculum reference & lesson scope

Australian Curriculum v9 / SA Curriculum Mathematics

Tables 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10; linked division; arrays; one-/two-digit problems.

Official curriculum source ↗

In this lesson

Understand the idea.

Division finds a missing group number

Ask the missing multiplication question

See the method in action.

Share equally

Represent the equal sharing.

Find the linked multiplication fact.

State and check each share.

Make groups

Represent the number of packs.

Find how many fives make thirty-five.

Interpret the division.

Try it yourself.

Check your understanding

Keep practising