ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Chunking (division)

Chunking (division) is a way of breaking something big into smaller parts, just like how we break big cookies into smaller pieces. When we divide something, we split it into equal groups so that we can easily count and understand it.

For example, let's say we have 10 candies that we want to share with our friends. If we divide the candies into 2 groups, each group will have 5 candies. If we divide the candies into 5 groups, each group will have 2 candies.

To chunk (divide) a number, we look at how many times a smaller number can fit into the bigger number. For example, if we want to divide 8 by 2, we ask ourselves: how many times does 2 fit into 8? The answer is 4, because we can fit 2 into 8 four times: 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8.

Sometimes, we might have a number that doesn't completely divide evenly into smaller groups. For example, if we want to divide 10 by 3, we can fit 3 into 10 three times (3 + 3 + 3 = 9), but we have one candy left over. In this case, we say that 10 divided by 3 is 3 with a remainder of 1 (written as 10 ÷ 3 = 3 R 1).

Overall, chunking (division) is just a way of dividing something big into smaller, more manageable parts so that we can understand it better.