Basic Math and Pre-Algebra For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 7

Divisibility

In This Chapter

Finding out whether a number is divisible by 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, or 11

Seeing the difference between prime numbers and composite numbers

When one number is divisible by another, you can divide the first number by the second number without getting a remainder (see Chapter 3 for details on division). In this chapter, I explore divisibility from a variety of angles.

To start, I show you a bunch of handy tricks for discovering whether one number is divisible by another without actually doing the division. (In fact, you don't find long division anywhere in this chapter!) After that, I talk about prime numbers and composite numbers (which I introduce briefly in Chapter 1).

This discussion, plus what follows in Chapter 8, can help make your encounter with fractions in Part III a lot friendlier.

Knowing the Divisibility Tricks

As you begin to work with fractions in Part III, the question of whether one number is divisible by another comes up a lot. In this section, I give you a bunch of time-saving tricks for finding out whether one number is divisible by another without actually making you do the division.

Counting everyone in: Numbers you can divide everything by

Every number is divisible by 1. As you can see, when you divide any number by 1, the answer ...