Division is one of the basic arithmetic operations in mathematics, which is to divide a number into several equal parts. In daily life, division is often used to solve various problems.

Definition and nature

Division is usually defined as dividing one number (dividend) by another number (divisor) to get a quotient and a remainder. The quotient is the largest integer that the dividend can be divisible by the dividend, and the remainder is the part that cannot be divisible by the dividend.

Division has some basic properties, such as:

1, dividend and divisor are multiplied or divided by the same number at the same time (except 0), and the quotient remains unchanged.

2. The divisor cannot be 0, otherwise it is meaningless.

3. When the dividend is less than the divisor, the quotient is 0 and the remainder is the dividend itself.

Historical origin

The history of division can be traced back to ancient civilizations, such as ancient Egypt, ancient Greece and Rome. In ancient times, people gradually mastered the concept and method of division operation through practice. In ancient Chinese mathematics, division is called "division", which is one of the important contents of "Nine Chapters Arithmetic" in ancient China. With the development of mathematics, the method of division operation is gradually improved and optimized, and is widely used in various fields.

The concepts of dividend and quotient in division operation are as follows:

Dividend: In the division operation, dividend is the product of dividend and divisor, which represents the divisible part of dividend. For example, in the division formula 10÷2=5, 10 is the dividend, which represents the part divisible by 2.

Quotient: In the division operation, quotient is the result of dividing the dividend by the divisor. It represents every unit in which the dividend can be divisible by the dividend. For example, in the division formula 10÷2=5, 5 is the quotient, which represents each unit obtained by dividing the dividend 10 by 2.

In a word, the concepts of dividend and quotient are the basic concepts in division operation, which respectively represent the divisible part of dividend and the result of dividend divided by divisor.