Divisors of a number are the integers that can be divided evenly into that number. In simple terms, if you can divide a number by another number and get a whole number without any remainder, then that second number is a divisor of the first number. This article will help you understand how to find the divisors of a number using an example with the number 17.
To understand divisors better, we first need to talk about division. In division, we have three main terms:
- Dividend: This is the number you want to divide.
- Divisor: This is the number you are dividing by.
- Quotient: This is the result you get when you divide the dividend by the divisor.
For example, if you have the numbers 17, 1, and 17, the division would look like this:
17 / 1 = 17
In this example, 17 is the dividend, 1 is the divisor, and 17 is the quotient.
Now, let’s find the divisors of the number 17. To do this, we will divide 17 by each integer starting from 1 up to 17 itself. We will look for numbers that divide 17 evenly, meaning the quotient is a whole number.
Step-by-Step Guide to Calculate the Divisors of 17
- Start with the number 1 and divide 17 by 1. If there is no remainder, 1 is a divisor.
- Next, take the number 2 and divide 17 by 2.
- Continue this process for each integer (3, 4, 5, etc.) up to 17.
Let’s perform the calculations:
- 17 / 1 = 17 (whole number, so 1 is a divisor)
- 17 / 2 = 8.5 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 3 = 5.67 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 4 = 4.25 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 5 = 3.4 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 6 = 2.83 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 7 = 2.43 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 8 = 2.125 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 9 = 1.89 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 10 = 1.7 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 11 = 1.545 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 12 = 1.4167 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 13 = 1.3077 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 14 = 1.2143 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 15 = 1.1333 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 16 = 1.0625 (not a whole number)
- 17 / 17 = 1 (whole number, so 17 is a divisor)
Here’s a summary of what we found:
- Divisors that produced whole numbers:
- 17 / 1 = 17
- 17 / 17 = 1
Conclusion
The only divisors of the number 17 are:
1, 17
This means that 1 and 17 are the integers that can divide 17 evenly!