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Don't know how to divide, PROBLEM
Hi, I have a big problem and you are probably gonna think it's ridiculous, but anyways, I am 12 years old and I don't know how to divide. This is a big problem because everyone in the grade knows how, my dad is gonna ask me to show him if I can divide in front of him and that's a problem. It's not really my fault I don't know how to divide, nobody ever told me how. I know how to divide like, 25 divided by 5 and stuff, but I mean the long methods like 2678 divided by 568 and that kind of stuff.
Please no answers like "You should know how to divide by this age" or "Ask your teacher" only professional answers, or you are getting a 1 at rating.
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Want to answer more questions in the Work & School category?
Maybe give some free advice about: School?
Hey there first of it is okay that you don't know how to divide. I used to be really bad at math in like everything and now I get A's in that class. Here's what you should do...
1. Ask your teacher for help I know this can be scary but go in the mornings or after school and get some one on one time with your teacher.
2. Use the web, Khan Academy really helped me.
3. Think positive about it, if you don't think positive it's only going to make things harder.
4. Relax you will get it, you will understand how to do it in no time.
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On your profile, which I can see as a moderator, it says you are 20; thought in your questions you say you are 12. Which is it 12 or 20? Whatever your age I will answer because this question is relevant if you are 12.
Youareloved gave you a very good answer which I cannot improve upon. Long division should not scare you as it is really not any different than short division though harder to do in your head. I can do singe and possibly some double digit long division in my head and get the right answer or get an approximate answer. But if I want an exact answer I need pencil and paper for anything over single digit division which in reality is just the reverse of multiplication.
Yes by your age you should know how to do these problem and is probably why your dad wants you to show him you can do them. Division should have been taught back in elementary school and reinforced throughout elementary school.
For reasons probably not your fault you may have missed the basic introduction to division and have been playing catch up ever since. If you are going to pass high school math you need to know how to divide. Let you dad know you have this problem. He can then meet with the school and find out why they have not brought this to his attention sooner and not taken any corrective action sooner.
Whatever the cause it is not your fault it is the school system and the teachers for not realizing you were in trouble with this and giving you the extra attention you needed. With dad now knowing he can demand the school give you the attention you need to master this problem.
I'm no math wiz though trust me when I say with a bit of help and some practice you can quickly make up for whatever you missed. It's not that hard once they give you the basics to build upon.
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Hi. Quite agree with your previous answer. Unless you intend to pursue mathematics to a very high level then it is best learned by 'drill'. Like 'procedure'. That is practice, and keep repeating it over and over again. Like troops learn from their drill sergeant, by diong it over and over again. This actually applies to the sort of long-dvision you are talking about here very well. You cannot do it in one move, as it were. So we divide, getting as close as we can (but not exceeding) the number we want to divide. Then write down the 'remainder' underneath, and repeat the process. Until we have a result. Noting that the number may sometimes fall into a pattern which we see must continue repeating (literally) 'forever. In which case we call it 'recursive'. Maths at this level is procedural. The procedure is always the same. There is only one correct answer and the procedure, correctly followed, will always lead to it. You don't have to have a 'feel for' numbers or a natural aptitude for figures. Just hammer home the procedure by constant repetition until it becomes kind of 'automatic' as you might say. Think of a simple one to get you going. 5 divided by 2. Two's 'go into' five 2 times. But 2x2 =4. So there is a remainder of 1. Keep the 2. Now divide again. two's don't go into one. So we 'bring down' a zero. This should be sounding a bit familiar from lessons I hope? The 1 becomes 'one-zero' (call it 'ten'). Two's go into ten. Exactly five times. So the full and complete answer is "5 divided by 2 equals 2.5" Whatever the numbers, the procedure is the same. It may have a lot more 'steps' but essentially, it's the same. And the 'drill' you've hammered in will see you through. Go to it!
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Sweetie, I understand your concern and no I would not ask as to why don't you know if everyone in your class does ))
So before I talk about the example you mentioned, I would highly recommend you to take a look at some of the online tutorials.
Here is one of the best I would recommend for you. They have excellent explanations, examples, sample tests/quiz and step by step VIDEOS on every subject for all grades. I am sure you are going to love it! The website is - [Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
Coming to your example, so 2678 is the dividend and 568 is the divisor, right?
Something with such a large divisor needs what you can call assumption or trial and error. here is how I would proceed.
Because "568' is a 3 digit number, let's start with the first 3 digits in the dividend, which is "267"
As "568" is greater than "267", we would have to take into consideration all 4 digits in the dividend "2678"
Here is what I meant by assumption/guessing/trial n error - Let's round up 568 as 500 in our head. It is obvious that 500 times 4 is 2000 and 500 times 5 is 2500. 2500 sounds close to our dividend value of 2678, right?
So it's likely that 568 times 4 or 5 would be somewhere around 2678.
Let's find out.
We would try multiplying 568 times 5 which comes to 2840, which is greater than 2678.
We now try multiplying 568 times 4 which comes to 2272. So the first digit in our quotient is 4.
2678 minus 2272 is 406. So the answer is 4 remainder 406. Sure we could have continued dividing to get a decimal quotient.
here is one more link which gives detailed step by step explanation for dividing 3-4 digit numbers using something called double division method
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
I know this is overwhelming, but there is no way out when it comes to math but to practice, practice and practice
Also remember that you are not any less that any other kid in your class. Do not get intimidated by anyone who tells you that you are any less. You may not be so good at math but you could be the best at something else, so don't judge yourself. Keep believing that you can do it and I bet you will!
One suggestion though if you don't mind - Next time when dad or teacher asks you about something that you don't know, please don't hesitate to accept and tell them that you don't know. We all don't know a lot of things, including the grown up adults. Part of the issue for school kids is that they are always afraid to acknowledge that they don't know something, out of fear or being judged or from the feeling of being humiliated or being compared to other kids. I am here to tell you that if you are not scared to accept, you will go long way in your life. No question is a stupid question ;)
Good luck ))
P.S. So, I have tried my best to help and answer your question. I don't mind a rating of 1 or -1 LOL
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