Subjects/Foundational Numeracy/Dividing by 2: Halving
Foundational NumeracyDivision

Dividing by 2: Halving

Learn to divide by 2, which is the same as finding half.

10 min

🎯 What You'll Learn

You will learn to divide any number by 2, which means finding half.

🏪 Market Story

Emeka and his brother share everything equally. If they get 14 groundnuts, each gets half: 14 ÷ 2 = 7. If they get ₦50, each gets: ₦50 ÷ 2 = ₦25. Dividing by 2 is halving!

📝 Let's Learn

Dividing by 2 is the opposite of doubling. If you know your 2 times table, you know how to halve!

  • 2 ÷ 2 = 1 (half of 2)
  • 4 ÷ 2 = 2 (half of 4)
  • 6 ÷ 2 = 3 (half of 6)
  • 8 ÷ 2 = 4 (half of 8)
  • 10 ÷ 2 = 5 (half of 10)
  • 12 ÷ 2 = 6, 14 ÷ 2 = 7, 16 ÷ 2 = 8, 18 ÷ 2 = 9, 20 ÷ 2 = 10

Example 1: Half of 16 = 16 ÷ 2 = 8.

Example 2: Half of ₦100 = ₦100 ÷ 2 = ₦50.

Example 3: Half of 24 = 24 ÷ 2 = 12. (Think: 12 + 12 = 24.)

✏️ Practice Questions

  1. What is half of 18?
  2. Two sisters share ₦60 equally. How much does each get?
  3. A rope is 30 metres long. You cut it in half. How long is each piece?
Click to see answers
  1. 18 ÷ 2 = 9.
  2. ₦60 ÷ 2 = ₦30 each.
  3. 30 ÷ 2 = 15 metres.

💡 Remember

Dividing by 2 is the same as finding half. It's the opposite of doubling. If you know that double 8 = 16, then half of 16 = 8!