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For more information about the names of the different symbols for division, you can check out Names for the Division Sign at MathMojo.com
Recently a reader wrote in with the following question:
Hi. I enjoyed discovering your website about math mojo.
Do you by chance know how to create the long division symbol in a word processing document or PowerPoint that allows someone to insert the dividend under a vinculum?
Right now, I’m just using an underline key, entering, and then typing the numbers on the line underneath. This solution is less than optimal. If you have a better solution, how happy you’d make me by sharing it.
Thanks,
- A. Reader
Professor Homunculus sez:
The symbol the reader is referring to is this one:
Great question. Lots of people have asked about it before, and it’s time I got to it. I’ve tried this so many ways, and have downloaded lots of math software trials, only to find that none of them have included that symbol. The rest of this post are instructions and a video of how to do this.
Continue reading How to make a division symbol in a computer document →
You may have read other posts about this long division shortcut at Math Mojo.
Long division shortcut Part 1
Long division shortcut Part 2
The main page to go to to learn the basics of the shortcut is:
Long Division Shortcut at Mathmojo.com
At that page, someone asked:
I have attempted this question using your method: 44872 / 79
Using your method I get the answer 569, when the answer is 568.
Please elaborate for me.
When I tried the example myself, I almost got 569 as well, but then I realized what the problem was. I think fellow who wrote, as well as I, fell prey to a very easy trap to fall into, and I’d like to address that now, because I imagine that other Math Mojo readers might benefit from it.
The best way to illustrate the problem, and the solution, is in a short video.
Please keep in mind that although I go through the division method in this video, I don’t teach the entire method. The video was made to simply address this one particular trap and how to avoid it. If you want to learn the method, go to:
Long Division Shortcut at Mathmojo.com
Continue reading Long Division Shortcut Hint →
You’re taught, “You can’t divide by zero.” But are you taught why? Adequately? Nah. That’s one of the fundamental goobers of elementary school. They give you rules to memorize, but even the teachers are unclear of why those rules are rules. [...]
original photo from Richard Masoner Edited by Brian
Not sure what got me thinking about this today, but I was musing about the commutative property, and how it applies to addition and multiplication. (Yeah, it was a pretty boring morning.)
Specifically, I was thinking about the word, “augend”. The augend of an addition problem is the [...]
Recently an interested reader (a teacher) wrote in a great question. I thought you might be interested in it, too. Here it is:
I ran across your website of mathematical terms. Is there a specific name for the division bracket? We are introducing 3rd graders to the vocabulary and symbols. Thank you.
Haven’t you ever wondered about [...]
A few posts ago, I offered some tips about how to check large division problems without having to multiply huge divisors and quotients to get even huger dividends.
One of the drawbacks to using the “crunch” method, which I described, is that it is not 100% accurate.
Often, people who need to defend the status [...]
We’ve been talking about using factors to make long-division problems easier, sometimes being able to turn them into a manageable sequence of short-division problems, in which no paper and pencil (and certainly no calculators!) are needed.
Want to try another one? How about
962/52 ?
Well, they’re both even, so that’s going to [...]
In the last post we looked at the problem of 926/18, and we simplified it to 463/9, so we could make it a short division problem.
What if the problem had been 927/18?
Both numbers are not even this time, so it is not readily apparent if they have common factors.
If you know how to factor (if you [...]
(Is that title an oxymoron?)
Imagine you have to do this division:
926/18
How would you do it? Would you rewrite it with that funny division symbol (“division bracket,” or “right parenthesis followed by a vinculum over the dividend”)? Would you use a calculator? (Please say “no” to that!)
After you rewrote it, would you start by trying to figure out how many times 18 would go into 92? If you did, you would be doing it the way most people learned in school, and you would be wasting a lot of time and effort.
Continue reading Long Division Shortcut (Part 1) →
They way we are usually taught to check division problems in school is unnecessarily complex. There is a better way. I always wondered why, after thousands of years of mathematics, schools generally haven’t figured that out. But I’d rather try solving the Riemann zeta-hypothesis than figure out why schools teach the way they do. [...]
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