What are the divisors of 3442?

1, 2, 1721, 3442

2 even divisors

2, 3442

2 odd divisors

1, 1721

How to compute the divisors of 3442?

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 3442 by each of the numbers from 1 to 3442 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)

  • 3442 / 1 = 3442 (the remainder is 0, so 1 is a divisor of 3442)
  • 3442 / 2 = 1721 (the remainder is 0, so 2 is a divisor of 3442)
  • 3442 / 3 = 1147.3333333333 (the remainder is 1, so 3 is not a divisor of 3442)
  • ...
  • 3442 / 3441 = 1.0002906131938 (the remainder is 1, so 3441 is not a divisor of 3442)
  • 3442 / 3442 = 1 (the remainder is 0, so 3442 is a divisor of 3442)

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 3442 (i.e. 58.668560575491). 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 )

  • 3442 / 1 = 3442 (the remainder is 0, so 1 and 3442 are divisors of 3442)
  • 3442 / 2 = 1721 (the remainder is 0, so 2 and 1721 are divisors of 3442)
  • 3442 / 3 = 1147.3333333333 (the remainder is 1, so 3 is not a divisor of 3442)
  • ...
  • 3442 / 57 = 60.385964912281 (the remainder is 22, so 57 is not a divisor of 3442)
  • 3442 / 58 = 59.344827586207 (the remainder is 20, so 58 is not a divisor of 3442)