What are the divisors of 10?

1, 2, 5, 10

2 even divisors

2, 10

2 odd divisors

1, 5

How to compute the divisors of 10?

A number N is said to be divisible by a number M (with M non-zero) if, when we divide N by M, the remainder of the division is zero.

N mod M = 0

Brute force algorithm

We could start by using a brute-force method which would involve dividing 10 by each of the numbers from 1 to 10 to determine which ones have a remainder equal to 0.

Remainder = N ( M × N M )

(where N M is the integer part of the quotient)

  • 10 / 1 = 10 (the remainder is 0, so 1 is a divisor of 10)
  • 10 / 2 = 5 (the remainder is 0, so 2 is a divisor of 10)
  • 10 / 3 = 3.3333333333333 (the remainder is 1, so 3 is not a divisor of 10)
  • ...
  • 10 / 4 = 2.5 (the remainder is 2, so 4 is not a divisor of 10)
  • 10 / 5 = 2 (the remainder is 0, so 5 is a divisor of 10)
  • 10 / 6 = 1.6666666666667 (the remainder is 4, so 6 is not a divisor of 10)
  • 10 / 7 = 1.4285714285714 (the remainder is 3, so 7 is not a divisor of 10)
  • 10 / 8 = 1.25 (the remainder is 2, so 8 is not a divisor of 10)
  • 10 / 9 = 1.1111111111111 (the remainder is 1, so 9 is not a divisor of 10)
  • 10 / 10 = 1 (the remainder is 0, so 10 is a divisor of 10)

Improved algorithm using square-root

However, there is another slightly better approach that reduces the number of iterations by testing only integers less than or equal to the square root of 10 (i.e. 3.1622776601684). Indeed, if a number N has a divisor D greater than its square root, then there is necessarily a smaller divisor d such that:

D × d = N

(thus, if N D = d , then N d = D )

  • 10 / 1 = 10 (the remainder is 0, so 1 and 10 are divisors of 10)
  • 10 / 2 = 5 (the remainder is 0, so 2 and 5 are divisors of 10)
  • 10 / 3 = 3.3333333333333 (the remainder is 1, so 3 is not a divisor of 10)