Long Division — Just Write the Answer Oct 2021

2nd Edition</p> <p>Turning long division into short division

I found an exciting article recently; it describes the calculating powers of Professor Craig Aitken.

I prepared a few more examples — this time illustrating how one approaches just writing the answer — one version below is marked with guidance, the other is unmarked.

After a little practice, the carries and subtractions become mental, allowing just the answer to be written.

I prove that, thanks to Wolfram Alpha, anyone can do all of this, and quicker yet — with a phone.

Problem 1 (marked)
Five Easy Inverses (marked)
Problem 2 (marked)
What is 44/201? (marked)
Problem 2
Hey Wolfram Alpha, what is 44/201?
Problem 1 (unmarked)
Five Easy Inverses (unmarked)
Problem 2 (unmarked)
What is 44/201? (unmarked)
References

Dr. Aitken was both a mathematician and a mental calculator. His prowess is described in the first link below (about halfway down the page).

https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Mental_arithmetic/

And here’s a second link — well worth reading.

https://cowles.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/pub/d17/d1750.pdf

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