Grade 3 Long Division: Division Word Problems

Apply division to real-world situations

What You'll Learn

Identify when to use division in word problems
Interpret remainders in context
Solve multi-step problems

📖Division in Real Life

Division helps us solve real problems like sharing equally, grouping items, and figuring out how many groups we can make.

💡

Pay attention to what the question asks! Sometimes you need to round up (like how many buses needed), sometimes round down (like how many complete sets).

💡Where this fits

Common Core teaches deciding what a remainder means in a story in grade 4 (4.OA.A.3), so this lesson is a stretch for this grade. The sharing and grouping stories without remainders are grade 3 work (3.OA.A.3).

Worked examples

Real problems from the practice worksheets, solved one step at a time.

Example 1
83 apples are shared equally among 4 baskets, with as many as possible in each basket. How many apples are left over?
1. Share the 83 equally into 4 groups, putting as many as you can in each, then look at what is left. That is division: 83 ÷ 4, and the remainder is what is left over.
2. 83 ÷ 4: take away 4 × 20 = 80 (3 left). 83 ÷ 4 = 20 R3.
3. The question asks what is left over, so the answer is the remainder, 3.
4. So the answer is 3 apples left over.
Answer: 3
Example 2
16 stickers are shared equally among 2 friends. How many stickers does each friend get?
1. 16 are shared equally into 2 groups, and we want how many are in each group. Sharing equally is division: 16 ÷ 2.
2. 16 ÷ 2 = 8, because 2 × 8 = 16.
3. So the answer is 8 stickers each.
Answer: 8
Example 3
A farmer plants 45 seeds in 3 equal rows. How many seeds are in each row?
1. 45 are shared equally into 3 groups, and we want how many are in each group. Sharing equally is division: 45 ÷ 3.
2. 45 ÷ 3: take away 3 × 10 = 30 (15 left), 3 × 5 = 15 (0 left). 10 + 5 = 15, so 45 ÷ 3 = 15.
3. So the answer is 15 seeds in each row.
Answer: 15