Divisibility Rules

September 22, 2012

What are divisibility rules?

Divisibility rules are important because they allow you to easily tell whether a number is divisible by another number. Some divisibility rules are extremely easy (such as: is 10 divisible by 2?). Others can be more complicated (such as divisibility by seven). However, they are usually easier to use than actually trying to divide numbers.

Divisibility by 2
The divisibility rule by 2 is extremely simple, simply check whether the number is even or odd (called the parity). Example 1: Is 5246 divisible by 2? Yes (6 is even, so 5246 is even and divisible by two: 25246 = 2623). Exercise 1: Is 94653 divisible by 2? (See Answer Key) Exercise 2: Is 6227405263342542 divisible by 2? (See Answer Key)

Divisibility by 5
The divisibility rule by 5 only requires you to know the last digit of the number. If the last digit is a 0 or a 5, then the number is divisible by 5. Example 2: Is 63258651 divisible by 5? No (63258651 ends in 1, which is not 0 or 5, so it is not divisible). Exercise 3: Is 6574140 divisible by 5? (See Answer Key) Exercise 4: Is 8563455 divisible by 5? (See Answer Key)

Divisibility by 3 and 9 (often most important)

The divisibility rule by 3 or 9 is very easy also, and can be applied more than once to a number. To test whether a number is divisible by 3 or 9, check whether the sum of the digits is divisible by 3 or 9. Example 3: Is 63342546 divisible by 3? Yes (6+3+3+4+2+5+4+3 = 33. Is 33 divisible by 3? 3+3 = 6 = 2 3. 6 is divisible by 3, so 33 is divisible by 3, so 63342543 is divisible by 3). Example 4: Is 63345246 divisible by 9? No ((6+3+3+4+2+5+4+3 = 33. Is 33 divisible by 9? 3+3 = 6 = 2 3. 6 is not divisible by 9, so 33 is not divisible by 9, so 63342543 is not divisible by 9). Exercise 5: Is 15630429 divisible by 3? Is it divisible by 9? (See Answer Key) Exercise 6: Is 1128078 divisible by 3? Is it divisible by 9? (See Answer Key)

Divisibility by 7
Divisibility by 7 requires some more arithmetic. To check whether a number is divisible by 7, take a numbers last digit, and subtract that from the number with the last digit removed. If the new number is divisible by 7, then the original number is also divisible by 7 (See example). Example 5: Is 325741514 divisible by 7? Yes Is 325741514 divisible by 7? This becomes: 32574151 2 4 = 32574143. Is 32574143 divisible by 7? This becomes: 3257414 2 3 = 3257408. Is 3257408 divisible by 7? This becomes: 325740 2 8 = 325724. Is 325724 divisible by 7? This becomes: 32572 2 4 = 32564. Is 32564 divisible by 7? This becomes: 3256 2 4 = 3248. Is 3248 divisible by 7? This becomes: 324 2 8 = 308. Is 308 divisible by 7? This becomes: 30 2 8 = 14. Is 14 divisible by 7? Yes! 14 is 2 7. So 14 is divisible by 7, so 308 is divisible by 7, so 3248 is divisible by 7, so 32564 is divisible by 7, so 325724 is divisible by 7, so 3257408 is divisible by 7, so 32574143 is divisible by 7, so 25741514 is divisible by 7. Exercise 7: Is 53538 divisible by 7? (See Answer Key) Exercise 8: Is 23408 divisible by 7? (See Answer Key)

Divisibility by 11
Divisibility by 11 can be tested by taking the difference of the sum of the odd-placed digits and the even placed digits. If the sum is divisible by 11, then the original number is divisible by 11. (See example) Example 6: Is 1542346 divisible by 11?

1542345

1+4+3+5 = 13 5+2+4 = 11

13 11 = 2. 2 is not divisible by 11, so 1542346 is not divisible by 11. Exercise 9: Is 11111111111 divisible by 11? How about 111111111? Exercise 10: Is 65065 divisible by 11?

Answer Key
Exercise 1: No Exercise 2: Yes Exercise 3: Yes Exercise 4: Yes Exercise 5: Yes, divisible by 3. No, not divisible by 9 Exercise 6: Yes, divisible by 3. Yes, divisible by 9 Exercise 7: No Exercise 8: Yes Exercise 9: Yes to the first question, No to the second Exercise 10: Yes

If you want more practice visit: http://tinyurl.com/DivisibilityHCSHN

Download and run the Java program.

If you want detailed solutions, I can be reached at ericthecmh@gmail.com