Illustration of using the right distributive law for division

To pack 96 apples into boxes, each holding 8 apples, we could do it in two stages. First pack apples into 10 boxes, then pack the remaining 16 apples into 2 boxes.

(80 + 16) ÷ 8 = 80 ÷ 8 + 16 ÷ 8; so 96 ÷ 8 = 12.

To pack 100 apples into boxes, each holding 8 apples, we could do it in two stages. First pack 80 apples into 10 boxes, then pack the remaining 20 apples into 2 boxes, leaving 4 apples remaining. In symbols, we write this as

(80 + 20) ÷ 8 = 80 ÷ 8 + 20 ÷ 8 = 10 + 2 rem 4 so 100 ÷ 8 = 12 remainder 4.