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The quotitive concept of division lends itself to calculation by repeated subtraction: dividing entails counting how many times the divisor can be subtracted before the dividend runs out. Because no finite number of subtractions of zero will ever exhaust a non-zero dividend, calculating division by zero in this way never terminates. [3]
In these enlarged number systems, division is the inverse operation to multiplication, that is a = c / b means a × b = c, as long as b is not zero. If b = 0, then this is a division by zero, which is not defined. [a] [4]: 246 In the 21-apples example, everyone would receive 5 apple and a quarter of an apple, thus avoiding any leftover.
In mathematics, divided differences is an algorithm, historically used for computing tables of logarithms and trigonometric functions. [citation needed] Charles Babbage's difference engine, an early mechanical calculator, was designed to use this algorithm in its operation.
Long division is the standard algorithm used for pen-and-paper division of multi-digit numbers expressed in decimal notation. It shifts gradually from the left to the right end of the dividend, subtracting the largest possible multiple of the divisor (at the digit level) at each stage; the multiples then become the digits of the quotient, and the final difference is then the remainder.
Given an integer a and a non-zero integer d, it can be shown that there exist unique integers q and r, such that a = qd + r and 0 ≤ r < | d |. The number q is called the quotient, while r is called the remainder. (For a proof of this result, see Euclidean division. For algorithms describing how to calculate the remainder, see division algorithm.)
The answer in this example is 237 with a remainder of 2. Alternatively, we can continue the above procedure if we want to produce a decimal answer. We do this by adding a decimal point and zeroes as necessary at the right of the dividend, and then treating each zero as another digit of the dividend. Thus, the next step in such a calculation ...
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The combination of these two symbols is sometimes known as a long division symbol or division bracket. [8] It developed in the 18th century from an earlier single-line notation separating the dividend from the quotient by a left parenthesis. [9] [10] The process is begun by dividing the left-most digit of the dividend by the divisor.