Division and Multiplication are Related
Understand that division and multiplication are inverse operations.
🎯 What You'll Learn
You will discover that division and multiplication are opposite operations — knowing one helps you solve the other!
🏪 Market Story
Chidi knows that 4 × 5 = 20. His teacher asks him: "What is 20 ÷ 5?" Chidi thinks: "If 4 groups of 5 makes 20, then 20 divided into groups of 5 gives 4 groups." So 20 ÷ 5 = 4. His multiplication knowledge helped him divide!
📝 Let's Learn
Division and multiplication are inverse operations — they undo each other.
If you know: 6 × 3 = 18, then you also know:
- 18 ÷ 3 = 6
- 18 ÷ 6 = 3
These facts form a fact family: 6 × 3 = 18, 3 × 6 = 18, 18 ÷ 3 = 6, 18 ÷ 6 = 3.
Example 1: 7 × 4 = 28, so 28 ÷ 4 = 7 and 28 ÷ 7 = 4.
Example 2: 5 × 8 = 40, so 40 ÷ 8 = 5 and 40 ÷ 5 = 8.
Example 3: To check if 36 ÷ 4 = 9 is correct, multiply: 9 × 4 = 36. ✓ Correct!
✏️ Practice Questions
- If 8 × 3 = 24, what is 24 ÷ 3?
- If 9 × 5 = 45, what is 45 ÷ 9?
- Funke calculates 42 ÷ 6 = 7. How can she check her answer using multiplication?
Click to see answers
- 24 ÷ 3 = 8.
- 45 ÷ 9 = 5.
- She checks: 7 × 6 = 42. ✓ Since this equals the original number, her answer is correct!
💡 Remember
Division and multiplication are a team. Use times tables to divide: "? × 3 = 18" means 18 ÷ 3 = 6. Always check division with multiplication!