Long Division: Simple Equations

These examples will help you get used to doing long division. You will use what you learned in Basic Division.

Here's an example:

   
2)6

This is 6 ÷ 2 rewritten. 6 ÷ 2 is six divided by two.

   
2)6

  is also six divided by two. However, we can also say: how many times does 2 go into 6?

2 goes into 6, 3 times. We write the 3 above the 6:

  3
2)6

Here's another example:

    
7)42

This is 42 ÷ 7 rewritten. How many times does 7 go into 42?

First, we need to ask: how many times does 7 go into 4? 7 does not go into 4 because 7 is greater than 4. Next, we ask: how many times does 7 go into 42? 6 times. So, we write the 6 above the 2 in 42 because 2 is the rightmost digit in 42:

   6
7)42

Although 7 goes into 42 6 times, it is incorrect to write the answer, 6, above the 4 in 42 because 7 does not go into 4.

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