If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

Main content

Divisibility tests for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10

Worked example of basic divisibility tests. Created by Sal Khan.

Want to join the conversation?

  • stelly blue style avatar for user Champarmand
    What about divisibility by 7 and 8? Guess there's no easy way to test that without a calculator ;)
    (417 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • purple pi purple style avatar for user TheFourthDimension
      Actually, divisibility by 7 & 8 is quite easy once you get the hang of it.

      First, I will talk about divisibility by 8, since it is easier. In order to test this, you only must check to see whether the last three digits of the number are divisible by 8. If they are, then the entire number is divisible by 8 too.

      Example 1: Is the number 8347475537272 divisible by 8?
      Answer 1: Yes, because the last 3 digits, 272, are divisible by 8.

      Example 2: Is the number 314159265358979323846 divisible by 8?
      Answer 2: No, because the last 3 digits, 846, are not divisible by 8.


      Next, divisibility by 7. This one is a little weird but it really is quite simple after you practice it a couple of times. In order to test this, you must take the last digit of the number you’re testing and double it. Then, subtract this number from the rest of the remaining digits. If this new number is either 0 or if it’s a number that’s divisible by 7, then then original number is divisible by seven. (You may have to repeat this a couple of times if the divisibility of the resulting number is not immediately obvious).

      Example 1: Is the number 364 divisible by 7?
      Answer 1: Yes: Double the 4 to get 8. Subtract 8 from 36 to get 28. Since 28 is divisible by 7, we can now say for certain that 364 is also divisible by 7.

      Example 2: Is the number 8256 divisible by 7?
      Answer 2: No, Double 6 to get 12. Subtract 12 from 825 to get 813. 813 is slightly too large to tell whether it is divisible by 7 so we must repeat the process. Double 3 to get 6. Subtract 6 from 81 to get 75. Since 75 is not divisible by 7, neither is 813 or 8256. Therefore, 8256 is not divisible by 7.

      If I wasn't clear with my explanation or if you need any more help, just ask. I hope that helped. :)


      P.S. This edit was made in response to a.ortalda's great question about divisibility by 7. It is as follows:

      What about the number used in this video? I tried to test the divisibility by 7 of 2799588, but at a certain point I have 27994 - (2*2) = 27990. How can I continue?

      For this special case, you can just drop the zero from 27990 to 2799 and continue from there. This works because, in essence, you are dividing by 10. Since 10 equals 5*2 (neither of which are 7), it should not influence the result.

      To finish the problem, 279 - 9*2 = 261. 26 - 1*2 = 24. Since 24 is not divisible by 7, neither is 2799588.
      (949 votes)
  • starky sapling style avatar for user [Yz.15]🉐乙єєℱεε🎭
    Divisibility by 11:
    How to check a number is divisible by 11?
    It is very simple, check the number, if the difference of the sum of digits at odd places and the sum of its digits at even places, is either 0 or divisible by 11, then clearly the number is divisible by 11.

    Examples:
    Is the number 2547039 divisible by 11?
    First find the difference between sum of its digits at odd and even places.
    (Sum of digits at odd places) - (Sum of digits at even places)
    = (9 + 0 + 4 + 2) - (3 + 7 + 5)
    = 15 - 15 = 0
    The number is 0, so the number 2547039 is divisible by 11.

    Is the number 13165648 divisible by 11?
    (Sum of digits at odd places) - (Sum of digits at even places)
    = (8 + 6 + 6 + 3) - (4 + 5 + 1 + 1)
    = 23 - 11 = 12
    The number is 12, so the number 13165648 is not divisible by 11.
    Divisibility by 11:
    How to check a number is divisible by 11?
    It is very simple, check the number, if the difference of the sum of digits at odd places and the sum of its digits at even places, is either 0 or divisible by 11, then clearly the number is divisible by 11.

    Examples:
    Is the number 2547039 divisible by 11?
    First find the difference between sum of its digits at odd and even places.
    (Sum of digits at odd places) - (Sum of digits at even places)
    = (9 + 0 + 4 + 2) - (3 + 7 + 5)
    = 15 - 15 = 0
    The number is 0, so the number 2547039 is divisible by 11.

    Is the number 13165648 divisible by 11?
    (Sum of digits at odd places) - (Sum of digits at even places)
    = (8 + 6 + 6 + 3) - (4 + 5 + 1 + 1)
    = 23 - 11 = 12
    The number is 12, so the number 13165648 is not divisible by 11.
    (16 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user Chang Valentina
    is there a way to find the multiple of 11 when it's a three digit number? is it possible?
    (8 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • hopper cool style avatar for user Shin Jamie
    how about divisibility in numbers 7 and 8
    (5 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • starky sapling style avatar for user Char
      Dividing by 7 (2 Tests)

      Take the last digit in a number.
      Double and subtract the last digit in your number from the rest of the digits.
      Repeat the process for larger numbers.
      Example: 357 (Double the 7 to get 14. Subtract 14 from 35 to get 21 which is divisible by 7 and we can now say that 357 is divisible by 7.

      NEXT TEST
      Take the number and multiply each digit beginning on the right hand side (ones) by 1, 3, 2, 6, 4, 5. Repeat this sequence as necessary
      Add the products.
      If the sum is divisible by 7 - so is your number.
      Example: Is 2016 divisible by 7?
      6(1) + 1(3) + 0(2) + 2(6) = 21
      21 is divisible by 7 and we can now say that 2016 is also divisible by 7.

      Dividing by 8

      This one's not as easy, if the last 3 digits are divisible by 8, so is the entire number.
      Example: 6008 - The last 3 digits are divisible by 8, therefore, so is 6008.
      (8 votes)
  • female robot amelia style avatar for user mk
    what does divisibly mean!
    (0 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • leafers seedling style avatar for user riya89501
    is there anything as partial divisibility and if there is where can we find its usage? like 90 being divisible by 4 partially because 90/4=22.5
    (4 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • male robot hal style avatar for user Lucas Naceri
    How to use divisibility tests for 11,13,17,and 19?
    (6 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • male robot hal style avatar for user amro  hajji
    pls salman how about the 7 and 8 important
    (3 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • stelly blue style avatar for user Kim Seidel
      The test Sal provided are the ones that are the most useful.
      There are rules to test for divisibility by 7. Personally, I think they are too complicated and it is easier to just divide by 7. This site has one of the easier tests for 7: http://www.mathsisfun.com/divisibility-rules.html

      The test for 8 is to see if the last 3 digits can be divided by 8. Chances are, that we would need to do long division to do this test. So, why not just divide by 8. Or since 8 = 4 * 2, do the test for 4. If it succeeds, divide by 4. Then do the test for 2.
      (4 votes)
  • piceratops tree style avatar for user kylandleon
    whats the divisibility rule for 13
    (3 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • leaf green style avatar for user Elizabeth
      It's not simple like some of the others, but there is one. Here it is:
      To determine if an integer is divisible by 13, remove the last digit, multiply it by 9, and subtract this from the remaining digits. Continue this until you reach a number that you know is divisible or not divisible by 13. If it is divisible by 13, then the original number is divisible by 13, but if it is not divisible by 13, the original number is not. For example, 312 is divisible by 13, because multiplying the last digit by 9 and subtracting it from the rest of the number yields 31 - 9(2) = 13, which is divisible by 13, but 867 is not divisible by 13, because multiplying the last digit by 9 and subtracting it from the rest of the number yields 86 - 9(7) = 23, which is not divisible by 13.
      (4 votes)
  • leaf red style avatar for user Matthew White
    Why did Khan not include divisibility tests for 7 and 8?
    (4 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user

Video transcript

What we're going to do in this video are some real quick tests to see if these three random numbers are divisible by any of these numbers here. And I'm not going to focus a lot on the why of why they're divisible-- we'll do that in other videos-- but really just to give you a sense of how do you actually test to see if this is divisible by 2 or 5 or 9 or 10. So let's get started. So to test whether any of these are divisible by 2, you really just have to look at the ones place and see if the ones place is divisible by 2. And right over here, 8 is divisible by 2, so this thing is going to be divisible by 2. 0 is considered to be divisible by 2, so this is going to be divisible by 2. Another way to think about it is if you have an even number over here-- and 0 is considered to be an even number-- then you're going to be divisible by 2. And over here, you do not have a number that is divisible by 2. This is not an even number, this 5, so this is not divisible by 2. So I won't write any 2 there. So we've gone through the 2s. Now, let's work through the 3s. So to figure out if you're divisible by 3, you really just have to add up all the digits and figure out if the sum is divisible by 3. So let's do that. So if I do 2 plus 7 plus 9 plus 9 plus 5 plus 8 plus 8, what's this going to be equal to? 2 plus 7 is 9. 9 plus 9 is 18, plus 9 is 27, plus 5 is 32, plus 8 is 40, plus 8 is 48. And 48 is divisible by 3. But in case you're not sure-- so this is equal to 48-- in case you're not sure whether it's divisible by 3, you can just add these digits up again. So 4 plus 8 is equal to 12, and 12 clearly is divisible by 3. And if you're not even sure there, you could add those two digits up. 1 plus 2 is equal to 3, and so this is divisible by 3. This right over here, let's add up the digits. And we can do this one in our head pretty easily. 5 plus 6 is 11. 11 plus 7 is 18. 18 plus 0 is 18. And if you want to add the 1 plus 8 on the 18, you get 9. So the digits add up to 9. So these add up to 9. Well, they add to 18, which is clearly divisible by 3 and by 9, and these two things will add to 9. So the important thing to know is when you add up all the digits, the sum is divisible by 3. So this is divisible by 3 as well, divisible by 3. And then finally, Let's add up these digits. 1 plus 0 plus 0 plus 7 is 8, plus 6 is 14, plus 5 is 19. So we summed up the digits. 19 is not divisible by 3. So this one, we're not going to write a 3 right over there. It's not divisible by 3. Let's try 4. And to think about 4, you just have to look at the last two digits and to see-- are the last two digits divisible? Are the last two digits divisible by 4? Immediately, you can look at this one right over here, see it's an odd number. If it's not going to be divisible by 2, it's definitely not going to be divisible by 4. So this one's not divisible by any of the first few numbers right over here. But let's think about one, 88. Is that divisible by 4? And you can do that in your head. That's 4 times 22. So this is divisible by 4. Now, let's see. 4 goes into 60 15 times. And then to go from 60 to 70, you have to get another 10, which is not divisible by 4. So that's not divisible by 4. And you can even try to divide it out yourself. 4 goes into 70, let's see, one time. You subtract, you get a 30. 4 goes into 30 seven times. You multiply, then you subtract. You get a 2 right over here as your remainder, so it is not divisible by 4. Now, let's move on to 5. Now, you're probably already very familiar with this. If your final digit is a 5 or a 0, you are divisible by 5. So this one is not divisible by 5. This one is divisible by 5. You have a 0 there, so this is divisible by 5. And this, you have a 5 as your ones digit. So once again-- finally-- this is divisible by something. It's divisible by 5. Now, the number 6. The simple way to think about divisibility by 6 is that you have to be divisible by both 2 and 3 in order to be divisible by 6, because the prime factorization of 6 is 2 times 3. So here, we're divisible by 2 and 3, so we're going to be divisible by-- let me do that in a new color-- so we're going to be divisible by 6. Here, we're divisible by 2 and 3, so we're going to be divisible by 6. And if you were just divisible by 2 or 3, just one of them, then you wouldn't be able to do this. You have to have both a 2 and a 3, divisibility by both of them. And here, you're divisible by neither 2 nor 3, so you're not going to be divisible by 6. Now, let's do the test for 9. The test for 9 is very similar to the test for 3. Sum up all the digits. If that sum is divisible by 9, then you're there. Well, we already summed up the digits here, 48. 48 actually is not divisible by 9. If you're not sure, you can add up the digits there. You get 12. 12 is definitely not divisible by 9. So this thing right over here is not divisible by 9. And this one over here, if you added up all the digits, we got 18, which is divisible. It is divisible by 9. And I'm running out of colors. So this one is divisible by 9. All the digits added up to 18. And this one over here, you don't even have to add them up, because we already know it's not divisible by 3. If it's not divisible by 3, it can't be divisible by 9. But if you did add up the digits, you get 19, which is not divisible by 9. So this also is not divisible by 9. And then finally, divisibility by 10. And this is the easiest one of all, because you just have to see if you have a 0 in the ones place. You clearly do not have a 0 in the ones place here. You do have a 0 in the ones place there, so you are divisible by 10 here. And then finally, you don't have a 0 in the ones place here, so you're not going to be divisible by 10. Another way you could think about it, you have to be divisible by both 2 and 5 to be divisible by 10. Here, you are divisible by 5 but not by 2. But obviously, the easiest one is to just see if you have a 0 in the ones place.