Division word problems

Division words problems arise in situations where we are trying to find out how many times a number go into another.In general, Division is the inverse operation of multiplication.Consider this first example.

Problem #1:

Sylvia's income is 26,000 dollars per year (52 weeks). How much money does Sylvia make weekly?

Sylvia's income of 26,000 dollars was found by doing the following:

? × 52 = 26,000 where the question mark represents Sylvia's weekly income.

It may take you forever to try every possible number that you need to multiply by 52 to get 26,000

The number is of course 500, but to find it, do a quick division of 26,000 by 52.

You can also think of the problem above as a  Linear equation

In this case, you can replace the question mark by x and solve either of the following two equations:

x × 52 = 26,000 or 52 × x = 26000

You will then follow the steps outlined in  Solving multiplication equations to solve it.

Problem #2:

How many hours are there in 660 minutes?

? × 60 = 660 minutes where ? represents number of hours

Just divide 660 by 60

660 ÷ 60 = 11, so there are 11 hours in 660 minutes

Problem #3:

How many meters are there in 550 centimeters?

1 meter = 100 centimeters

? × 100 = 550 centimeters where ? represents number of meters

Just divide 550 by 100

550 ÷ 100 = 5.5, so there are 5.5 meters in 550 centimeters

Problem #4:

In one night, a movie theater sells tickets for 6450 dollars. Each ticket costs 15 dollars. How many people purchased a ticket?

? × 15 = 6450 where the question mark represents the number of people who purchased a ticket.

6450 ÷ 15 = 430, so 430 people purchased a ticket.