Copyright © University of Cambridge. All rights reserved.

'Division Rules' printed from https://nrich.maths.org/

Show menu

Begin by deciding on your divisor. Then create your first dividend and complete the calculation.

Then try another calculation! Remember to record your results. You could use a table like the one below.

Table for recording results for a divisor of 2:

Calculation Whole number answer Remainder of 1
269 ÷ 2 = 134 r1   269
547 ÷ 2 = 273 r1   547
466 ÷ 2 = 233 466  
728 ÷ 2 = 364 728  
     

Look at the dividends which result in a whole number answer.
Can you spot any similarities?
Can this help you to conjecture a rule about which other dividends will have a whole number answer when divided by 2?
Test your rule for other dividends.

Can you spot a rule for the dividends which give a remainder of 1 when divided by 2?