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How to divide numbers

August 4, 2012 by Simon 141 Comments

Learning how to divide numbers is a really important skill. Learn these, practice them and always keep to the same methods!

There are 6 main numeracy skills that will help with your maths. Click here to read more.

Click here to visit addition skills , subtraction skills , multiplication skills videos.

Learning how to divide numbers is an important area of maths because has its own vocabulary – all these words mean the same thing:

  • divided by
  • quotient of
  • split
  • separated
  • cut up
  • shared equally
  • equal pieces
  • lots of

They all provide clues in a word problem and can help you decide the correct calculation.

There are many similarities between fractions and division as similar terms are used and the / symbol can be used in both cases.

Division is also the opposite – inverse – of multiplication so you really need to know your multiplication tables. There’s also ‘long division’ where a good level of estimation skills are beneficial.

Try your own calculations once you have watched the videos.

Short division using times tables

Short division using bus stop method

Short division with Lol 😀

Short division with Lol – Blooper

Long division using bus stop and fraction method

Long division by decimal bus stop method

Long division using chunking method

Comments

  1. Seb Banks says

    June 17, 2015 at 4:14 pm

    cool

    Reply
  2. Mohammod Daiyan says

    June 15, 2015 at 8:14 pm

    r u a real teacher in school u r very god;]

    Reply
  3. King SuperKicks says

    June 7, 2015 at 3:32 pm

    thanks so much m8 +Simon Deacon

    Reply
  4. Stealths says

    June 3, 2015 at 8:38 pm

    your vids are great for revision thx so much 🙂 1+ sub 4 u!!!

    Reply
  5. Hayden Cumberbatch says

    May 25, 2015 at 11:15 pm

    How do you know when you should be making it into a decimal?

    Reply
  6. Paul Kelly says

    May 17, 2015 at 8:03 pm

    cheers fella, many thanks…now I can help my daughter with her homework.
    she says “thanks” too 🙂

    Reply
  7. Vin Petrol says

    May 17, 2015 at 11:37 am

    Thanks so much, I can usually do most things but never division. We’re just
    moving onto dividing & multiplying so I thought I’d quickly learn it!
    Thanks 🙂

    Reply
  8. Todd na says

    May 5, 2015 at 2:40 am

    From Thailand : I love this method. Thank you for shared this trick. Thumbs
    up.

    Reply
  9. Leonie Nicholls says

    April 28, 2015 at 3:42 am

    Wheres the BUS so why do they call it the bus stop

    Reply
  10. Kenechi eze says

    April 19, 2015 at 1:37 pm

    Thanks very helpful without you I wouldnt have completed my homework

    Reply
  11. ben 4930 says

    March 18, 2015 at 7:26 pm

    YOLO

    Reply
  12. ben 4930 says

    March 18, 2015 at 7:26 pm

    thank for the help

    Reply
  13. Sassan Adl says

    March 12, 2015 at 10:45 am

    Awesome stuff Simon.
    I love math but always was terrible at division (mainly because Irelands
    school system was terrible at teaching it).
    But this is extremely helpful!

    Reply
  14. virendra ajmera says

    March 7, 2015 at 7:51 am

    how i can teach online us students.

    Reply
  15. virendra ajmera says

    March 7, 2015 at 7:50 am

    Nice explanation good video helpful .

    Reply
  16. 8732BigRob says

    March 2, 2015 at 11:49 pm

    Hope this works I got a big test tommorow

    Reply
  17. Sam Simpson says

    February 20, 2015 at 1:19 pm

    Hi Simon, Are you a Maths Teacher? Very Well explained there.

    Reply
  18. Marissa Huber says

    February 17, 2015 at 1:45 am

    MATH IS AMAZING

    Reply
  19. Marissa Huber says

    February 16, 2015 at 3:10 am

    I LOVE MATH

    Reply
  20. Marissa Huber says

    February 16, 2015 at 3:08 am

    AWESOME my math teacher made us watch the video and it is really cool and
    easy

    Reply
  21. steve. sjv says

    February 9, 2015 at 10:34 am

    Thank you, this helped me with my maths homework. Thumbs up.

    Reply
  22. Joe Holland says

    February 8, 2015 at 7:50 am

    Thank you for the great video I had homework on bus stop division and I
    forgot how to do it until I found this video

    Reply
  23. Neal Caffrey says

    January 7, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    Thank you.

    Reply
  24. FarahRoseTube says

    December 12, 2014 at 5:47 pm

    Ty this helped sooooooooo much

    Reply
  25. anathan rajah says

    December 8, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    Simon do u find it easy?

    Reply
  26. anathan rajah says

    December 8, 2014 at 6:59 pm

    Really good way he is explaining

    Reply
  27. Aadil Saleh says

    December 6, 2014 at 12:26 pm

    Thank you so much

    Reply
  28. MICHELLE SEARCY says

    November 16, 2014 at 6:09 am

    Let’s say your trying to take away 43 out out 251 without using a
    calculator how would you do it

    Reply
  29. MICHELLE SEARCY says

    November 14, 2014 at 12:01 am

    Sorry my friend said that great method I do algorithm you should com teach
    at Silva valley

    Reply
  30. stephen barker says

    November 8, 2014 at 9:01 am

    how do i calculate compound interest

    Reply
  31. Lucy Ratcliffe says

    October 29, 2014 at 2:19 pm

    I’m a student teacher and this video really helped to refresh my memory on
    chunking for teaching my first EVER division lesson to my Year 5 class next
    week! Thank you so much! P.s. you have a lovely smile!

    Reply
  32. Yassir Redouani says

    October 28, 2014 at 6:41 pm

    Thanks for helping

    Reply
  33. shannon shuttleworth says

    October 26, 2014 at 7:42 pm

    this youtube account is very good! i suffer with mathematical hate lol

    Reply
  34. thomas frey says

    October 19, 2014 at 10:12 am

    Thank you I have a test on monday and I need that method

    Reply
  35. Shadow and Stormfly says

    October 18, 2014 at 7:15 pm

    I still can’t do bus stop method but I have an ider but thanks for help

    Reply
  36. Maruf Rahman says

    October 14, 2014 at 9:02 pm

    Thanks I was doing my homework and there was a question of division and I
    forgot the bus stop method

    Reply
  37. e.wilson says

    October 7, 2014 at 5:01 pm

    Simony i really appreciate your hard working and positive attitude towards
    mathematics. You are the only reason i am a athlete, i watch you in the
    evening and in ye morning and you never get boring! keep it up honey boo xx

    Reply
  38. Аидеед мохамед says

    October 5, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    I seriously wish you were my maths teacher !

    Reply
  39. GameSkillars33 - Music - Games - says

    October 2, 2014 at 3:53 pm

    thanks really helped me with revising this method 😀

    Reply
  40. Shewli Begum says

    September 30, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    Thanks you helped me a lot on my homework

    Reply
  41. Sudha rani says

    September 25, 2014 at 10:25 pm

    hi, very good method. but is it helpgul for decimal division.

    Reply
  42. 1SuperKawaii says

    September 18, 2014 at 5:10 pm

    So much easier and faster than the old way, wish they taught it this way
    back in my time. There would have been a lot of less yelling and crying for
    hours at my house.

    Reply
  43. Chloe Walker says

    September 2, 2014 at 8:16 pm

    Great video! Something I actually understood, but could I ask, what is the
    difference between long division and short division? (UK)

    Reply
  44. firedragonosis says

    August 28, 2014 at 8:08 am

    Phew, I have to go back to school next week and I forgot this method – now
    I’ve seen this it’s all came back to me! Thanks.

    Reply
  45. Bryan Unwin says

    July 9, 2014 at 6:02 pm

    Thanks this made me pass my test today!

    Reply
  46. sasha palmer says

    June 16, 2014 at 7:10 am

    As someone who finds maths incredibly difficult I find your teaching really
    helpful and easy to understand. I’m teaching myself basic maths at the
    moment but finding it very difficult. I literally don’t know anything.
    Thanks for the videos any advice greatly received.

    Reply
  47. Miss Brie Punk says

    June 9, 2014 at 8:38 pm

    You have to borrow from 4

    Reply
  48. beatrix ubsdell says

    June 8, 2014 at 6:45 pm

    thanx this will help for my math test!

    Reply
  49. gabriellep89 says

    June 4, 2014 at 5:08 pm

    My primary school teachers tried to teach us this but ended up just
    explaining why it was called the bus stop method, it made no sense. Its
    been so long and I’ve only just learnt it for an exam coming up. I’ve also
    got dyscalculia so that just made it worse! So, thank you!

    Reply
  50. Jenny Gray says

    May 31, 2014 at 9:34 pm

    Why is it possible to divide after the decimal point?

    Reply
  51. MrWeiden1991 says

    May 21, 2014 at 11:11 pm

    sooooo sweet. i am sure you will become a teacher .wish you good luck

    Reply
  52. Fawzia Ali says

    May 12, 2014 at 9:08 pm

    wers is the buss ? #lol!!!

    Reply
  53. Fawzia Ali says

    May 12, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    weres the buss

    Reply
  54. ane smuin says

    May 11, 2014 at 10:06 am

    i still dont get bus stop looovee

    Reply
  55. AlainArthur2004 says

    May 6, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    Why are there decimals?

    Reply
  56. Phoebe Mitchell says

    May 1, 2014 at 8:12 am

    To all those people going whys it called bus stop, because it looks like
    one of the bus shelters. Derp.

    Reply
  57. Mizzy MSP says

    April 28, 2014 at 10:58 pm

    OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH

    Reply
  58. Nahshon Lombe says

    April 28, 2014 at 2:42 am

    I’m in year 11 right now going to do my maths exam in two months
    Working at a B grade going for the A grade in June……
    Really good at problem solving/ most topics but…….. I’m bad at basic
    maths
    Your a Grade saver/ Changer
    or
    Maybe Life Saver

    Reply
  59. destiny osaro ilevba says

    April 24, 2014 at 6:34 pm

    This is really good for me

    Reply
  60. bo-zephyr james-davidson says

    April 21, 2014 at 11:47 am

    i thought you are meant to put the 3 as a remainder?

    Reply
  61. Suleka Ali says

    March 26, 2014 at 10:37 pm

    Thank you very much this video was very helpful

    Reply
  62. Ian Fotheringham says

    March 25, 2014 at 7:22 pm

    why is it called the “bus stop” method?

    Reply
  63. Brandon Wilson says

    March 19, 2014 at 6:43 am

    This guy if officialy epic I cant do long division. When I do my exams soon
    I will be watching all his videos.

    Reply
  64. Beenita offical says

    February 28, 2014 at 6:25 pm

    tq sir

    Reply
  65. TheAmazing Blaze says

    February 17, 2014 at 9:58 pm

    Helped out, thank. 😀

    Reply
  66. Louis O'Halloran says

    February 10, 2014 at 9:03 pm

    Thanks – this was helpful.

    Reply
  67. Christopher Demeyer says

    February 5, 2014 at 5:16 pm

    What website can I get the worksheets from

    Reply
  68. Samuel Vast says

    February 2, 2014 at 11:33 am

    I thank you, sir, it helped my younger brother do wellin his papers.

    Reply
  69. Shaz J says

    December 8, 2013 at 9:16 pm

    Thanks this helped me teach my nine year old. Its been a long time since I
    did them at school, so it was good revision for me too.

    Reply
  70. Simon Deacon says

    December 8, 2013 at 10:41 am

    Please like and leave a comment!

    Visit https://www.3minutemaths.co.uk for real maths, tips and techniques.

    Reply
  71. Simon Deacon says

    December 8, 2013 at 10:41 am

    Please like and leave a comment!

    Visit https://www.3minutemaths.co.uk for real maths, tips and techniques.

    Reply
  72. Simon Deacon says

    December 8, 2013 at 10:41 am

    Please like and leave a comment!

    Visit https://www.3minutemaths.co.uk for real maths, tips and techniques.

    Reply
  73. Simon Sokolowski says

    December 2, 2013 at 6:17 pm

    Finally someone who can really explain long division propally. thanks
    simon!

    Reply
  74. The Sardine says

    December 1, 2013 at 9:41 pm

    great method

    Reply
  75. THE_SILENT_LEAF says

    November 10, 2013 at 7:56 pm

    Thanks really helped me out on my homework. 🙂

    Reply
  76. THE_SILENT_LEAF says

    November 10, 2013 at 7:43 pm

    What do you do when you have 2248 divided by 4? Because 2 is smaller then 4.

    Reply
  77. idadaodeh1 says

    October 29, 2013 at 12:22 am

    Best method ever

    Reply
  78. Simon Deacon says

    October 27, 2013 at 11:59 pm

    Please post, pin, tweet, like or subscribe!

    Reply
  79. Simon Deacon says

    October 27, 2013 at 11:59 pm

    Please post, pin, tweet, like or subscribe!

    Reply
  80. Simon Deacon says

    October 27, 2013 at 11:59 pm

    Please post, pin, tweet, like or subscribe!

    Reply
  81. Simon Deacon says

    October 27, 2013 at 11:57 pm

    Please post, pin, tweet, like or subscribe!

    Reply
  82. Simon Deacon says

    October 27, 2013 at 11:57 pm

    Please post, pin, tweet, like or subscribe!

    Reply
  83. Simon Deacon says

    October 27, 2013 at 11:57 pm

    Please post, pin, tweet, like or subscribe!

    Reply
  84. techzxhd says

    October 22, 2013 at 5:28 pm

    Thank you. I was struggling with this at school but now I know how to do it. Thanks a lot 🙂

    Reply
  85. Mandy Fuller says

    October 21, 2013 at 5:50 am

    Great video, it really helped me to teach that to my class!

    Reply
  86. jugeds says

    October 20, 2013 at 7:33 pm

    Hi simon I am struggling on an assignment question that asks me to simplify an algebraic fraction using the long division method. The question is 3s4 + 2s2 – 2s – 2 divided by s2 + 1. I would be really grateful if you could help. Thanks

    Reply
  87. thomas cooper says

    October 13, 2013 at 11:47 am

    ??????????????????

    Reply
  88. leyla.lana. Mcguinness says

    October 9, 2013 at 9:42 pm

    helpful 🙂

    Reply
  89. danyal naeem says

    September 28, 2013 at 8:49 pm

    Thanks for the reply

    Reply
  90. Simon Deacon says

    September 25, 2013 at 11:50 pm

    Thanks – really appreciate your comment 🙂

    Reply
  91. danyal naeem says

    September 25, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    Thx your the best in every videos at maths

    Reply
  92. Simon Deacon says

    September 17, 2013 at 10:35 pm

    Hi – thanks for the question. 75 as a number is exactly the same as 75.00. It’s generally OK to put 2 or 3 zeros after the decimal point as you’re not really sure how far a decimal calculation will go.
    I hope this helps and all best S

    Reply
  93. clotie100 says

    September 17, 2013 at 5:56 pm

    hi simon thank you for the illastration but how did you get those zeros at the end of 75 and how do you know how many zeros to put there

    Reply
  94. Badour Oumar says

    September 14, 2013 at 5:07 pm

    good

    Reply
  95. Harrybo247 says

    September 12, 2013 at 10:10 pm

    Thanks i needed to watch this video for my homework helped alot!!!

    Reply
  96. Simon Deacon says

    September 8, 2013 at 11:04 pm

    No prob and glad it helped 🙂

    Reply
  97. OhLawdItsKatie says

    September 8, 2013 at 10:57 pm

    Thanks!

    Reply
  98. Oliver Maggs says

    September 6, 2013 at 8:28 am

    Very good thx

    Reply
  99. legodlallana says

    September 4, 2013 at 9:01 pm

    Thanks for this, easy to understand.

    Reply
  100. c256mohammed123 says

    July 24, 2013 at 11:31 pm

    Very helpful and clear now I understand bus stop method

    Reply
  101. Simon Deacon says

    July 10, 2013 at 8:17 pm

    Hi – thanks for your comment. It’s a difficult question … division is really the opposite of multiplication …. so you could try to help your son practice times tables. It’s always better to say them as ‘one times seven is seven, two times seven is fourteen’ and so on. As you really learn times tables, division (and lots of other maths) will be easier.
    Bus stop and chunking are great methods but both just need practice – 10 minutes every day, on a few questions, can really help.
    All best S

    Reply
  102. virdi871 says

    July 10, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    my son knows chunking method . but he doesent know this method. he is 12 and iam 37 we thinck chunking is easy but my sun is going to be in year 8 . i think my baby boy who is 1 will do well in school my other son says to daddy that its hard. i say well its easy and i shout at him . so what shall i do ? i say to my husband. he says you should do chunking. i said ok then. Please comment to me to tell my son wat to do thank you

    Reply
  103. Simon Deacon says

    July 9, 2013 at 9:32 pm

    Hi – glad to help 🙂

    Reply
  104. Eleftheria Panayiotou says

    July 9, 2013 at 9:08 pm

    absolutely helped me & made me get higher in my SAT’s much better than my teacher(pls reply too!)

    Reply
  105. clarelyw says

    June 29, 2013 at 9:52 pm

    this helped me a lot thank u! 🙂

    Reply
  106. Simon Deacon says

    June 26, 2013 at 10:25 pm

    Hi Jessica – thanks for the comment! 🙂

    Reply
  107. jessica bit says

    June 26, 2013 at 7:24 pm

    can you respond back to me plz I LOVE YOUR VIDEO I WILL SUSCRIBE AND LIKE YOUR VIDEO

    Reply
  108. jessica bit says

    June 26, 2013 at 7:21 pm

    amazing i learnt well

    Reply
  109. Simon Deacon says

    June 24, 2013 at 10:27 pm

    That’s great – thanks for comment 🙂

    Reply
  110. jamieblade10 says

    June 24, 2013 at 9:54 pm

    you helped me with my home work thanks

    Reply
  111. Simon Deacon says

    June 21, 2013 at 3:25 pm

    Glad the video helped 🙂

    Reply
  112. dragonballz449 says

    June 21, 2013 at 2:59 pm

    thank u for showing me 🙂

    Reply
  113. Simon Deacon says

    June 19, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    Glad to help 🙂

    Reply
  114. eugenie564 says

    June 19, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    Thanks for helping

    Reply
  115. Simon Deacon says

    June 13, 2013 at 8:37 pm

    Hi – yes, when I’m teaching this, it’s as much to do with estimation and multiplication. Students really need to be good at both to use this method effectively 🙂

    Reply
  116. chambos69 says

    June 13, 2013 at 6:37 pm

    sort of, but you’re still left with a tricky question such as how many 14’s are in 119! with chunking you could use comfy numbers… still, it’s rare that it doesnt work! thanks!

    Reply
  117. Simon Deacon says

    June 12, 2013 at 10:57 pm

    Hi – Using this method the first division is ‘how many lots of 9 is there in 8?’ The answer is 0 with 8 left over – some people put the zero above the 8 to remind themselves.

    So my next question would be ‘how many lots of 9 are there in 87?’ Answer 9 with 6 left over. The 6 then continues onto the 0 after the decimal point – then how many lots of 9 out of 60, 6 remainder 6 etc…

    The answer is 9.6666666.

    With 119/14 – first question is how many lots of 14 in 119 …..

    Hope this helps 🙂

    Reply
  118. chambos69 says

    June 12, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    This is a great method, one we used to do as children. I’m a maths co-ordinator at a primary school and it looks like we’re going to go back down this route at the request of Mr.Gove… My problem is this – how does it work when a number doesn’t divide into another number at all using the ‘bus stop’ method. E.g. 87/9 or 119/14? People seem to keep dodging this one! I’m hoping you can shed some light onto it for me!

    Reply
  119. Droidiinator says

    June 10, 2013 at 12:59 am

    I wish that you were my maths teacher 🙂

    Reply
  120. Simon Deacon says

    June 9, 2013 at 3:04 pm

    No prob and glad it helped – good luck with your exam 🙂

    Reply
  121. Retrolover989 says

    June 9, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    Thank you so much I needed this for me exam revision

    Reply
  122. Simon Deacon says

    June 7, 2013 at 10:38 pm

    That’s great, hope it helped and thanks for your comment 🙂

    Reply
  123. hannahmc27hc says

    June 7, 2013 at 9:37 pm

    Very interesting

    Reply
  124. Berry Boo says

    June 6, 2013 at 10:27 pm

    THIS HAS SAVED MY LIFE.

    Reply
  125. shaunrusselln7 says

    May 19, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    Really Helpful!

    Reply
  126. Simon Deacon says

    May 4, 2013 at 9:03 am

    That’s great – thanks 🙂

    Reply
  127. TheLoftgirl says

    May 3, 2013 at 7:28 pm

    Very well explained, thank you

    Reply
  128. Euan Gordon says

    April 29, 2013 at 10:30 pm

    First

    Reply
  129. imsuperthanks4asking says

    April 28, 2013 at 9:31 pm

    This is great thanks!

    Reply
  130. IHU M MuHi says

    April 14, 2013 at 10:46 pm

    Thanks a lot! Your better then my teacher!Seriously

    Reply
  131. Simon Deacon says

    March 3, 2013 at 10:16 pm

    Hi – that’s great, thanks for letting me know 🙂

    Reply
  132. yusra928 says

    March 3, 2013 at 9:08 pm

    wow u helped

    Reply
  133. Matchattaxdude1 says

    January 28, 2013 at 9:23 pm

    Thank u really helped but when u did take away u did 4 take 1 but then realised thanks though

    Reply
  134. Alan Dedman says

    January 27, 2013 at 1:48 pm

    Thanks

    Reply
  135. Megan Sharpe says

    January 10, 2013 at 7:43 pm

    Good video!

    Reply
  136. TheAviatorB747 says

    December 9, 2012 at 11:34 pm

    Nice explanation!

    Reply

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