In mathematics, a divisor of an integer , also called a factor of , is an integer that may be multiplied by some integer to produce . In this case, one also says that is a multiple of An integer is divisible or evenly divisible by another integer if is a divisor of ; this implies dividing by leaves no remainder.
An integer n is divisible by a nonzero integer m if there exists an integer k such that . This is written as
Other ways of saying the same thing are that m divides n, m is a divisor of n, m is a factor of n, and n is a multiple of m. If m does not divide n, then the notation is .
Usually, m is required to be nonzero, but n is allowed to be zero. With this convention, for every nonzero integer m. Some definitions omit the requirement that be nonzero.
Divisors can be negative as well as positive, although often the term is restricted to positive divisors. For example, there are six divisors of 4; they are 1, 2, 4, −1, −2, and −4, but only the positive ones (1, 2, and 4) would usually be mentioned.
1 and −1 divide (are divisors of) every integer. Every integer (and its negation) is a divisor of itself. Integers divisible by 2 are called even, and integers not divisible by 2 are called odd.
1, −1, n and −n are known as the trivial divisors of n. A divisor of n that is not a trivial divisor is known as a non-trivial divisor (or strict divisor). A nonzero integer with at least one non-trivial divisor is known as a composite number, while the units −1 and 1 and prime numbers have no non-trivial divisors.
There are divisibility rules that allow one to recognize certain divisors of a number from the number's digits.
7 is a divisor of 42 because , so we can say . It can also be said that 42 is divisible by 7, 42 is a multiple of 7, 7 divides 42, or 7 is a factor of 42.
The non-trivial divisors of 6 are 2, −2, 3, −3.
The positive divisors of 42 are 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 21, 42.
The set of all positive divisors of 60, , partially ordered by divisibility, has the Hasse diagram:
There are some elementary rules:
If and , then , i.