Divisibility Tricks

There are a few things you should know about division that will helpful you immensely, if you figure them out.

Any number that ends in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8 is divisible by 2

120 ÷ 2 = 60

22 ÷ 2 = 11

54 ÷ 2 = 27

16 ÷ 2 = 8

88 ÷ 2 = 44

Any number where the sum of its digits is divisible by 3, is divisible by 3.

90 is divisible by 3 because 9 + 0 = 9 (and 9 is divisible by 3)

90 ÷ 3 = 30

321 is divisible by 3 because: 3 + 2 + 1 = 6 (and 6 is divisible by 3)

321 ÷ 3 = 107

120 is divisible by 3 because 1 + 2 + 0 = 3 (and 3 is divisible by 3)

120 ÷ 3 = 40

Any number where the last digit is 5 or 0, is divisible by 5.

You can figure this out easily by skip counting (a method that helps us in multiplication):

5, 10, 15, 10, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60…and on..and on…

If it ends in 0 or 5, it is divisible by 5.

Any number that is divisible by both 2 and 3, is divisible by 6.

18 is divisible by 2 and 3 so…18 is also divisible by 6.

18 ÷ 6 = 3

24 is divisible by 2 and 3 so…24 is also divisible by 6.

24 ÷ 6 = 4

Any number that ends in 0, is divisible by 10.

10,000 is divisible by 10

10,000 ÷ 10 = 1,000

1,000,000 is divisible by 10

1,000,000 ÷ 10 = 100,000

600,000 is divisible by 10

600,000 ÷ 10 = 60,000

This will make it very easy for you when you have to divide by 10 or even multiply by 10. 10 times any number is simply that number with an extra zero added to it.

456 * 10 = 4,650

76,348 * 10 = 763,480

When it comes to division, when you divide by 10, you simply move the decimal one place to the left. We will talk about decimals later.

4,983 ÷ 10 = 498.3

231 ÷ 10 = 23.1

20 ÷ 10 = 2

A few more things to know

  • A number cannot be divided by 0.

  • If you divide 0 by another number, the answer is 0.

  • Any number divided by 1, is equal to itself.

  • Any number divided by itself, is equal to 1.

Danita Smith