Division symbol ÷

• Elementary arithmetic: US students learn division with ÷ first: 20 ÷ 5 = 4.
• Calculators: the division key shows ÷, even though it does the same thing as / in a spreadsheet.
• Quick notes and recipes: “Total ÷ 4 people = cost per person.”

From middle school on, math moves to the slash and the fraction bar: 20/5, or 20 over 5 as a stacked fraction. Algebra rarely uses ÷, because a fraction bar shows clearly which part is divided by which. If you write for adults in a technical field, the slash or fraction is the expected form; ÷ can look like it was written for children.

The expression 8 ÷ 2(2 + 2) keeps going viral because people get two different answers. Applying the order of operations strictly from left to right (PEMDAS), 8 ÷ 2 × 4 = 16. Many readers, and some textbooks and calculators, treat implied multiplication such as 2(2 + 2) as binding more tightly, which gives 8 ÷ 8 = 1.

The real lesson is that ÷ combined with implied multiplication is ambiguous. In anything that matters, add parentheses, (8 ÷ 2)(2 + 2) or 8 ÷ (2(2 + 2)), or use a stacked fraction.

Look-alikes: / (slash) and ⁄ (fraction slash, used to build fractions like 3⁄4) also express division, and ∶ (ratio sign) is for ratios such as 3∶2, where a plain colon is the everyday choice.

• Word: in an equation (Alt+=), type \div and press space.
• Android (Gboard): ÷ is on the second symbols page.
• iPhone: no default key; copy it here or create a text replacement.
• LaTeX: \div.
• Programming and Excel: division is always /. In Python, // is floor division and % gives the remainder.