Remainder
In division, the remainder is the number left when one number does not divide another number exactly. Remainders can be expressed in several ways.
Remainder as a whole number
| Often the remainder in division is expressed as a whole number. |
| Example |
| Floyd had 14 gumballs. He gave them to 4 friends. How many gumballs did each person receive? |
| 14 ÷ 4 = 3, with a remainder of 2 |
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| Therefore each person received 3 gumballs, and there were 2 gumballs remaining. (Cutting gumballs into parts does not work very well!) |
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Remainder as a common fraction or decimal fraction
| In many division problems, the remainder is expressed as a common fraction or a decimal fraction. |
| Example |
| Jamie and Roger went on a 10-mile hike. If the trip lasted 4 hours, about how many miles did they hike per hour? |
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| Thus, Jamie and Roger hiked about 2½ miles (or 2.5 miles) per hour. In this situation, the remainder is expressed as as ½ or 0.5. |
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Remainder ignored
| In some problems, the remainder is ignored. |
| Example |
| Bobbi was making bookshelves for her room. she had 8 feet of lumber for shelves, and each bookshelf was 3 feet long. How many shelves could she make? |
| 8 ÷ 3 = 2, with 2 feet of shelving remaining. |
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| She could make 2 shelves. The lumber she would have remaining after that is not enough for her to make another bookshelf. |
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Remainder as the next highest whole number
| Sometimes a remainder requires the problem solution to be the next highest whole number. |
| Example |
| Ken bought hot dog buns for the picnic. He needed 60 buns in all. The buns were packaged in bags containing 8 each. How many packages of buns did he need to buy? |
| 60 ÷ 8 = 7, with a remainder of 4 |
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| If Ken buys 7 packages of hot dog buns, he will have only 58 buns, and he needs 60. He will need to buy a total of 8 packages of buns. |
See also division, subtraction.
