Free decimal division worksheets

How to use these worksheets

Print at 100% on A4 or US Letter so the long division brackets on sheet one keep their working space and the decimal points stay visible. No sheet carries an answer key, so work a copy yourself or have students check with multiplication: quotient times divisor should return the dividend. Graph paper beside the sheet helps keep digits in columns.

• Divide by 10, 100 and 1000, 20 problems. Start here even with older students. It isolates the decimal shift with no division to do: 90.812 divided by 100 just moves the point two places left. Ask for the rule in words.
• Divide by whole numbers 3 to 10, 7 problems. The natural second step. The decimal point in the quotient sits directly above its place in the dividend, so have students write that point first, before dividing any digit.
• Long division by tenths, 12 problems. The core sheet. For 38.22 divided by 3.9, move the point one place in both numbers to get 382.2 divided by 39, then divide as usual. Have students write the rewritten problem first.
• Divide by decimals 0.2 to 0.6, 6 problems. Only six problems, so use it for a discussion. Dividing 4.2 by 0.6 gives an answer larger than 4.2, and 20 divided by 0.005 is dramatic. Ask why before you ask how much.
• Mixed divisors plus .05 and .04, 7 problems. Use this last as a check. Divisors run from 2 to 13 and then jump to .05 and .04, so students decide for themselves whether a decimal shift is needed.

Common mistakes to watch for

• Shifting only one number. Turning 3.9 into 39 without turning 38.22 into 382.2 changes the answer by a factor of ten. Both numbers move the same number of places, every time.
• Misplacing the point in the quotient. Students divide correctly and then guess where the point goes. Write it above the dividend's point before dividing and the digits land in the right places.
• Expecting division to make numbers smaller. With divisors of 0.2, 0.005 and .04 the quotient grows. If a student writes an answer smaller than the dividend on those problems, the decimal shift went the wrong way.
• Stopping at a remainder. In decimal division you add zeros after the point and keep going. A remainder means the work is unfinished, not that the answer is messy.