Short division

Large numbers are difficult to divide, because we don't learn the times tables for them.

This is the traditional way of doing a division sum. You may have tried this method at school.

396 ÷ 3 can be written like this:

To work out this sum, divide 3 into 396 one digit at a time, starting from the left (with the digit 3). Put the result of each division on top of the line.

      The 3 into 3 goes 1 time exactly
      3 into 9 goes 3 times
      3 into 6 goes 2 times exactly
      396 ÷ 3 = 132

But what if the numbers don't divide exactly? This is where you carry numbers.
2 565 ÷ 5 can be written like this:

To work out this sum, divide 5 into 2 565 one digit at a time, starting from the left (with the digit 2). Put the result of each division on top of the line.

      The 5 into 2 won't go so you carry the 2
      5 into 25 goes 5 times exactly
      5 into 6 goes once with 1 remainder
      5 into 15 goes 3 times exactly
      2 565 ÷ 5 = 513