The idea in brief. Read what the question asks: count complete groups, name the leftover, or include an extra container for every item. A leftover may need one more box. It is not a fraction of a box. In the lesson. Last lesson, you found the quotient and the remainder by division. Today, we will read the question to decide what the remainder means for the answer. Read what the question asks for: full groups, the items left over, or enough boxes for every item. If every item must fit, the items left over need 1 more box.
Lesson video, with the working
Remainder in a problem
4 min 07 s
The film teaches 3 questions in turn. Each question shows first; its working is written as the film explains it.
A stall has 27 curry puffs. Each box holds at most 6 curry puffs. What is the least number of boxes needed to hold all the curry puffs?
27 ÷ 6 = 4 R 3
Boxes needed = 4 + 1 = 5
Ans: 5 boxes
Example 1 of 2
A stall has 38 fish balls. Each full bag must contain 8 fish balls. What is the greatest number of full bags it can make?
38 ÷ 8 = 4 R 6
Full bags = 4 bags
Ans: 4 bags
Example 2 of 2
A stall has 47 dumplings. It fills trays with 9 dumplings in each tray until it cannot fill another tray. How many dumplings are left?
47 ÷ 9 = 5 R 2
Left over = 2 dumplings
Ans: 2 dumplings
How to solve it
Divide and name the quotient and remainder. 27 divided by 6 is 4 remainder 3.
Read what the question asks for: full groups, the items left over, or enough boxes for every item.
For full groups, only the quotient counts. 38 fish balls make 4 full bags.
For the items left over, the answer is the remainder. 47 dumplings leave 2 dumplings.
If every item must fit, the items left over need 1 more box: 4 plus 1 is 5.
Read what the question asks for: full groups, the items left over, or enough boxes for every item. If every item must fit, the items left over need 1 more box.
Practice questions with worked solutions
Question 1 is free to try. The other 5 open in the free trial, each with its solution film.
This page teaches what to do with a remainder in a word problem.
What your child learns here
This page teaches what to do with a remainder in a word problem. It applies the MOE Primary 3 outcome on division with remainder: after dividing, the question decides whether the answer is the quotient, the remainder, or one more than the quotient.
Divide and name the quotient and the remainder first.
Give the quotient when the question asks for full groups, such as full bags or complete teams.
Add 1 to the quotient when every item must be packed or every person seated, because the leftover still needs a place.
Give the remainder when the question asks how many are left over.
Work out the empty spaces in the last group when the question asks for them.
Does the answer make sense?
A leftover or an empty-seat count is always smaller than one full group, so tables of 7 seats leave at most 6 empty. When every pupil or item needs a place, your child can check the tables, boxes or packs hold at least the number still needing one, such as the pegs not yet owned.
How to practise these questions
The Basic questions practise dividing and deciding what the remainder stands for in the story. The Intermediate question adds a story where the leftover items still need a place of their own. In the Challenge questions, your child must decide whether to add 1 to the quotient or leave it, because the remainder must be read as complete groups. If a remainder story is stuck, watch the solution film for it and have another go later from Revision.
Questions parents ask
Are remainder word problems in the Primary 3 syllabus? The syllabus lists division with remainder, and these questions apply that outcome to stories. The division is the same; the question decides how the remainder is used in the answer.
When do you add 1 to the quotient? When there is a remainder and every item must be packed, carried or seated. The leftover items still need one more container, even though it will not be full.
Can the answer to a remainder question be the remainder itself? Yes. If the question asks how many are left over after making full groups, the remainder is the answer. The last sentence of the question says which answer it wants.
