5th Grade Long Division: Concepts and Sample Problems

Helping Your 5th Grader with Long Division

Getting Started

While students in the 4th grade may often complete simple problems with few steps and no remainders, 5th graders typically must solve problems with larger numbers, such as double-digit divisors. Additionally, kids in the 5th grade often have to convert remainders into fractions or decimals. Getting to know the school's math standards can help you know precisely what division concepts your 5th grader needs to master. Stay in close contact with your child's math teacher for information about what concepts are being covered in class. The teacher may also be able to provide you with sample division problems.

Long Division Tips

A common way that you can help your child to grasp long division is by breaking sample problems down into four basic steps. The first step is to divide. Next multiply, then subtract and finally drop down the following digit. By repeating these four steps, your child will probably be able to solve more and more complex problems.

You can help your child solve long division problems in everyday life. For example, have your child count the number of cookies in your cookie jar and write it on a piece of paper. Ask your child to figure out how many cookies each person would have if they were distributed among five people.

Online Long Division Resources

Many websites offer free long division worksheets and quizzes that include many sample problems for extra practice. Often, worksheets are divided into categories based on difficulty and whether or not the answers have remainders. Some worksheets can help struggling 5th graders by revealing how many steps are needed to solve a problem. If you need more specific worksheets, you can create your own with a multitude of different online math worksheet generators.

Sample Problems

1. 49 ÷ 12

In this problem, 49 is the dividend, so it should go inside the long division bracket, and 12 is the divisor, so it should go on the outside. If your child knows the multiplication table, he or she will recognize that 12 x 4 = 48, so write 4 above 49 on the division bracket. Subtract 49 - 48, which equals 1. So, the answer is 4 R1.

2. 438 ÷ 52

This problem is more challenging because it will involve multiple steps. Your child might use trial and error to find out how many times 52 can fit into 438. The closest is 8 because 52 x 8 = 416. Now subtract: 438 - 416 = 22. The final answer can be written like this: 8 R22.

However, if your child is ready for the challenge, he or she can rewrite the remainder as a fraction or decimal. To write it as a fraction, put the remainder (22) over the divisor and reduce. The answer should be 8 22/52 = 8 11/26. To calculate the remainder as a decimal, divide 22 ÷ 52, which equals approximately 0.42. Therefore, the answer as a decimal would be 8.42.