Maths revealed: Top ten questions about division

A study has revealed that when it comes to division, the most asked question is about dividing fractions. The research, which was compiled by maths experts Divided By, analysed data to find out which division questions are asked the most times in an average month.

According to the study, the most-asked question about division is “how to divide fractions”, which is googled a whopping 8,100 times a month, on average. In second and third place are “how to divide decimals” and “How to divide fractions with whole numbers”, which get 1,600 monthly searches each – that’s 6,500 fewer than the top division question.

Division, in general, comes third, with an average of 1,300 people asking “how to divide” each month, followed by “how to divide in Excel”, which is asked 1,000 times in an average a month.

People are equally confused about dividing in a ratio, dividing in Python, dividing surds, dividing with double digits and dividing by zero, with these topics receiving an average of 260 searches per month.

What are the top ten questions about division?

DividedBy’s research found that the top ten division questions are as follows:

Rank	Search term	Average monthly searches
1	How to divide fraction	8,100
2	How to divide decimals	1,600
3	How to divide fractions with whole numbers	1,600
4	How to divide	1,300
5	How to divide in Excel	1000
6	How to divide in a ratio	260
7	How to divide in python	260
8	How to divide surds	260
9	How to divide double digits	260
10	What is 0 divided by 0	260

What are the answers to the top ten questions about division?

To help people who are struggling to get their heads around division, a spokesperson for Divided By has provided the answers to these questions:

1. How to divide fractions

Dividing fractions is a straightforward process that involves three easy steps. First, turn the second fraction upside down to create its reciprocal. Then change the division sign into a multiplication sign.

Lastly, multiply the first fraction by the reciprocal of the second fraction to give the final answer. If applicable, simplify the fraction to its simplest form. This problem-solving process is often referred to as “Keep It, Change It, Flip It”, where you keep the first fraction as it is, change the division sign to a multiplication sign, and flip the second fraction to create its reciprocal.

Then the problem can be solved by multiplying the fractions as normal.

2. How to divide decimals

Dividing decimals is not that different to dividing whole numbers, the only difference being that the decimal point must be addressed first before continuing dividing. With this in mind, there are a few simple rules to follow to ensure success.

Move the decimal in the decimal numbers to create a whole number – this is especially relevant for the divisor (the number being divided by). It’s also important to make sure to move the decimal point in the dividend (the number that’s getting divided) by the same number of places.

Ensure the decimal point in the quotient (the final answer) is in the same place as the decimal point in the dividend, and now the problem can be divided as usual.

3. How to divide fractions with whole numbers

Before beginning the division process, the whole number must be converted into a fraction. To do so, simply transform the whole number into a numerator (the top number in a fraction), and place the value 1 as the denominator (the bottom number in a fraction).

For instance, 4 would change to 4/1, 7 would change to 7/1 and 16 would change to 16/1. Once this is done, it’s time to start the division process.

4. How to divide

One of the easiest ways to explain division is to think of a pizza. If a pizza is cut into ten slices, and these slices are to be distributed equally between five people, each person would receive two slices. In mathematical terms, that’s 10 ÷ 5 = 2.

Another way to look at it is to define division as how many times the divisor can go into the dividend. For example, the number five (the divisor) goes into 10 (the dividend) twice, so 10 ÷ 5 = 2.

5. How to divide in Excel

Dividing in Excel can be done as follows:

1. Select an empty cell and type in the numerator
2. Follow the numerator with the “/” symbol on the keyboard
3. Follow it with the denominator
4. Press enter to complete the formula
5. Excel will then display the result

The formula will be expressed as “=a/b”, where:

• a is the numerator (the number being divided)
• b is the denominator (the number you are dividing by)

6. How to divide in a ratio

Division problems about ratios are phrased something like this: “Share the amount 10 in the ratio 2:3”.

To answer this, let’s take the pizza example again. The pizza is cut into 10 slices, but this time it is shared between 2 people, and rather than being shared equally, it’s shared in the ratio 2:3. To find out how many slices each person gets, first you need to add 2 and 3 together, which makes 5, and then divide 10 by 5 to get the value of each slice, which is 2.

Then you multiply 2 by 2 and 2 by 3 to get the ratio, which is 4:6. So, one person gets 4 slices of pizza, and the other gets 6.

7. How to divide in Python

Numbers are divided in Python by:

• Entering the “/” symbol, which divides the number on the left by the number on the right and results in a floating point value
• Entering “//”, which divides the number on the left by the number on the right, rounds down theanswer and gives the result as a whole number

8. How to divide surds

Dividing surds is done by dividing the whole numbers on the outside of the square root sign (√) by each other, then dividing the square roots by each other and finally, if applicable, simplifying the answer.

9. How to divide with double digits

Dividing with double digits is similar to dividing with single digits—it just takes longer and is done using long division. Remember that you need to work out how many times the divisor will go into the dividend.

It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t go into it exactly – this just means there will be a remainder.

10. What is 0 divided by 0

If Siri is asked this question, the answer is this:

“Imagine that you have zero cookies, and you split them evenly among zero friends. How many cookies does each person get? See? It doesn’t make sense. And Cookie Monster is sad that there are no cookies, and you are sad that you have no friends.”

It’s Apple’s ingenious way of explaining that zero divided by zero is a nonsensical question. Division is the act of splitting something, and zero means nothing. The concept of dividing by zero gives the impression that an action is occurring when nothing is happening. Dividing nothing by nothing just doesn’t make sense.

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