1Set up the equation: On a piece of paper, write the dividend (number being divided) on the right, under the division symbol, and the divisor (number doing the division) to the left on the outside.
- The quotient (answer) will eventually go on top, right above the dividend.
- Leave yourself plenty of space below the equation to carry out multiple subtraction operations.
- Here's an example: if there are six mushrooms in a 250 gram pack, how much does each mushroom weigh on average? In this case, we must divide 250 by 6. The 6 goes on the outside, and the 250 on the inside.
Divide the first digit: Working from left to right, determine how many times the divisor can go into the first digit of the dividend without exceeding it.
- In our example, you'd want to determine how many times 6 goes into 2. Since six is larger than two, the answer is zero. If you wish, may write a 0 directly above the 2 as a place-holder, and erase it later. Alternatively, you can leave that space blank and move on to the next step.
Divide the first two digits: If the divisor is a larger number than the first digit, determine how many times the divisor goes into the first two digits of the dividend without exceeding it.
- If your answer to the previous step was 0, as in the example, expand the number by one digit. In this case, we'd ask how many times 6 can go into 25.
- If your divisor has more than two digits, you'll have to expand out even further, to the third or maybe even fourth digit of the dividend in order to get a number that the divisor goes into.
- Work in terms of whole numbers. If you use a calculator, you'll discover that 6 goes into 25 a total of 4.167 times. In long division, you always round down to the nearest whole number, so in this case, our answer would be 4.
