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I have some homework where I am supposed to divide two numbers that are base 5 or 3.

And I did it. I basically converted the numbers to decimal, divided, and then convert the result to the original base.

That seems to work. But also seems a bit silly when I look at it. The reason I did such conversions is because I am not very sure of the fastest, simplest way to actually do such divisions. So, what do you do?

2 Answers 2

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You can also use the ordinary long division algorithm, provided that you know (or can quickly work out) the single-digit multiplication and subtraction tables for the base in which you’re working. To divide $12343_{\text{five}}$ by $24_{\text{five}}$, for instance:

                 234                  -----               24)12343                  103                  ---                   204                   132                   ---                    223                    211                    ---                     12 

That is, the quotient is $234_{\text{five}}$, and the remainder is $12_{\text{five}}$. In base ten I’ve divided $973$ by $14$ to get a quotient of $69$ and a remainder of $7$.

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You can also just operate in base 5 or 3. The division algorithm you learned doesn't depend upon the base. You just need to multiply and subtract in the base of interest. Base 5: 13 into 233: first digit is a 1, leaving 103. Next is 3, and 3*13=44 leaving 4, so 233/13=13 remainder 4.

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    I think that's what I don't quite understand. What is this "multiply and substract" part about exactly?2012-03-20