Division

Operation under which every pair of numbers D and d, called the dividend (D) and the divisor (d), is made to correspond to a new number called the quotient (Q) of these two numbers, so that D = d × Q.

The inverse operation of division is multiplication.

Notation

The symbol for division is "÷" which is read as "divided by".

Example

Consider the division of these whole numbers: 35 ÷ 7 = 5 The number 35 is the dividend, the number 7 is the divisor and the number 5 is the quotient.

Historical Note

The symbol ÷, called the obelus or obel (from the Greek term οβελοσ), was introduced by the Swiss mathematician Johann Henrich Rhan in his treatise on algebra in 1659. He also introduced the symbol * as the symbol of multiplication.

Division

Notation

Example

Historical Note

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