What is another way to show 24 divided by 2? Move a number to each line to show the answer. 24 divided by 2 = _ divided by 2 + 4 divided by _
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
To rewrite the division problem “24 divided by 2” in another way, we can break 24 into two numbers whose division by 2 still gives us the correct answer. The equation “24 divided by 2 = _ divided by 2 + 4 divided by _” can be filled in as follows:
24 divided by 2 = 20 divided by 2 + 4 divided by 2.
Now, let’s examine why this works.
Explanation
When we solve 24 divided by 2, we are essentially trying to see how many times 2 goes into 24, which gives us 12. Another way to achieve the same result is by splitting 24 into two simpler components: 20 and 4. Each of these numbers can be divided separately by 2 to reach the same result.
So, we rewrite 24 as the sum of 20 and 4, then divide each part by 2:
- 20 divided by 2 = 10
- 4 divided by 2 = 2
Adding the results of these two separate divisions gives us:
10 + 2 = 12
This method works because of the distributive property of division over addition. In math, the distributive property tells us that a number can be broken into parts, and each part can be divided separately before summing the results. In our case, 24 can be split into 20 and 4, and each of these can be divided by 2 independently without changing the total result.
This approach can be useful for understanding and simplifying larger numbers. It demonstrates that division, like multiplication, can be broken into smaller, more manageable steps. This method also allows flexibility in problem-solving, particularly when teaching or learning basic math operations, as it emphasizes that there are multiple ways to reach the same answer.