ABACUS - DIVISION
I. GENERAL RULES :
a) Three terms - divisor, dividend and the quotient are used in a division problem.
The number that does the dividing is called the DIVISOR. The number into
which it is divided is called the DIVIDEND. The answer obtained by DIVIDEND /
DIVISOR is known as the QUOTIENT. For example, take the problem 63÷7. Here
7 is the divisor, 63 is the dividend and the value 63÷7 = 9 is the quotient.
b) Take the example 72÷7. Here 7 is the divisor, 72 is the dividend. 72 = (7 5 10)
+ 2. Here, the quotient of 72÷7 is 10 and the remaining value ‘2’ is known as
the REMAINDER.
c) In division problems, the divisor of the problem should be set at the extreme
left of the abacus and the dividend at the extreme right of the abacus. Please
note that no column is added for division problems. The digits of the dividend
should be placed in the respective units, tens, and hundreds columns and so on
in the right side of the abacus.
d) While dividing, you need a place for setting the quotient. If the divisor is equal
to or smaller than the first digit of the dividend, skip one column to the left of
the dividend and set the quotient. If the quotient is a multiple digit number,
you need additional columns for setting the other digits of the quotient. In
such cases, you will be setting the digit of the highest column first and the
remaining digits should be placed to the consecutive right of the previous digits.
e) If the divisor is greater than the first digit (highest column) of the dividend,
there is no need for skipping one column to the left of the dividend. You can
place the quotient to the immediate left of the dividend.