SIMPLE DIVISION.
(
Money Puzzles)
Sometimes a very simple question in elementary arithmetic will cause a
good deal of perplexity. For example, I want to divide the four numbers,
701, 1,059, 1,417, and 2,312, by the largest number possible that will
leave the same remainder in every case. How am I to set to work Of
course, by a laborious system of trial one can in time discover the
answer, but there is quite a simple method of doing it if you can only
find it.
Answer:
Subtract every number in turn from every other number, and we get 358
(twice), 716, 1,611, 1,253, and 895. Now, we see at a glance that, as
358 equals 2 x 179, the only number that can divide in every case
without a remainder will be 179. On trial we find that this is such a
divisor. Therefore, 179 is the divisor we want, which always leaves a
remainder 164 in the case of the original numbers given.
