But Sometimes It Does Not Work Perfectly!

Sometimes you cannot divide things up evenly ... there may be something left over.

Example: There are 7 cookies, and 2 people want to share them equally.

But 7 cookies cannot be divided exactly into 2 groups,
each person gets 3 cookies,
but there will be 1 left over:

We call that the Remainder. 



We say:

"7 divided by 2 equals 3 with a remainder of 1"

And we write:

7 ÷ 2 = 3 R 1

 

As a Fraction

It is also possible to cut the remaining cookie in half, and then each person would have 3 ½ cookies, so:

7 ÷ 2 = 3 R 1 = 3 ½

"7 divided by 2 equals 3 remander 1 equals 3 and a half"