p 12 djvu p 26

For dividends and divisors consisting of several figures use is made

of such a division table and the complete division is carried out in
steps or stages corresponding to the successive steps in multiplication.
According as the divisor is less than 21 or greater than 20 (when
Table I is used) one or the other of two general methods is used.
These two methods are known as short division and long division.
NOTE ON TWO METHODS OF DIVISION: Thus there is long division and short division
.
In short division the divisor is divided directly into each successive
figure or pair of figures of the dividend, beginning at the left, and the
successive separate quotients written down one after the other to form
a number which is the complete quotient.
As an illustration, let us divide 129636 by 3. As 3 is not con-
tained in 1 a whole number of times the first two figures, 12, are
taken as a partial dividend. Then 12 + 3 = 4, 9 + 3 = 3, 6 + 3 = 2,
3 + 3 = 1, and the complete quotient is 43212. That is, 129636 +
3 = 43212. This operation is usually written out in the following
3)129636 ..
form: 43212 and the separate quotients are wntten below the cor-
responding separate dividends.
If any of the separate dividends (figures of the complete dividend)
are smaller than the divisor, or do not contain the divisor exactly a
whole number of times, a slightly different procedure is followed, as
illustrated by the following example: Divide 189576 by 9. We get
18 + 9 = 2 and 9 + 9 = 1, but 9 is not contained in 5, so a zero is
written for the next figure of the quotient. The next individual divi-
dend is then taken as 57 instead of 7, and 57 + 9 = 6 with a re-
mainder of 3 (since 6 X 9 = 54). This 3 is written (or imagined
written) before the next figure, 6, giving 36, and this 36 is used as the
next dividend. The final figure of the quotient is then 36 + 9 = 4,
the successive figures of the complete quotient are 2, 1, 0, 6 and 4.
The result is, therefore, 189576 + 9 = 21064. The complete opera-
. .. fi II 9 )189576
tlOn IS written as 0 ows: 21064'
NOTE VERY IMPORTANT ON HOW SHORT DIVISION IS PERFORMED AND THE LOGIC BEHIND IT A
ND WHAT TO DO IF NUMBER DOES NOT GO INTO EVENLY 13!: Thus in this example
we start from the left (that is we start at the most significant digits, if we h
ave 1243, we start at 1 instead of 3).
1.1 Also notice that if a digit of the dividend is too small, then we take the n
ext number with the number that was too small.
1.1.1 We might ask while we do this, well if we consider the principle of decima
l place and value, the 1 in 129636 actually represents 100,000 and the 2 represe
nts 20,000.
To divide 100,000 by 3 would be messy and not able to algorithmatize. Thus 120,
000 however is very clean and hence we perform that division first.
1.2 This leads us to the concept of "regrouping" for short division similar to t
hat which we do in addition and subtraction.
If We divide 189576 by 9, we get 18/9 = 2, 9/9 = 1, but 9 is not contained in 5
and so we put a 0 for this figure in the quotient, the next individual dividend
taken will thus be 57 insetad of 7.
57/9 = 6 with a remainder of 3. This 3 is written (or imagined wirtten) before
the next figure, which is 6, givign 36 ,and this 36 is used as the next divident
. 36/9 = 4.
1.2.1 We may say that the 5 represented 500 and not a "5" so why not just only t
ake 57, instead of writing "0", since writing "0" seems to indicate that it can'
t go into that.
1.2.2 The "0" actually indicates that instead of taking 9/500, that instead we w
ill take 9/570, but still why does it make
sense to put a "0" there in the algorithm???????????
??????
????????????????
1.2.5 When we got remainder "3" , that remainder 3 was because of the "7", since
if it was 54 there would be no remainder. Thus that "3" is really a 30, which
is why we add it to the "6" in the one's place
to get 36.
1.3 Thus in short division what we're actually doing is using the distributive p
roperty of division. We are actually taking apart the number from most signific
ant digit
to least significant digit and dividing each of those parts by the divisor one a
t a time. Then we put this partial result below the proper decimal place in our
answer because
it correlates to the significance of the digit we were dealing with at each step
.