The Divided Kingdom

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there lived a wise old king named Arithmeticus. He was known throughout the land for his love of numbers and his ability to solve even the most complex mathematical problems.

One day, a young prince named Divisor approached the king with a peculiar question. “Your Majesty,” he asked, “is it true that dividing a number by another number is the same as dividing it by two factors of that number?”

The king smiled. “That’s a very astute question, young prince,” he replied. “Let’s explore this together.”

To illustrate his point, the king presented the prince with a series of mathematical problems.

Solve the problems and write your answers in the fields below.

🙂 = Correct, ☹️ = Incorrect

As the prince worked through the problems, he began to notice a pattern. In every case, the result was the same, regardless of whether he divided by one number or two factors of that number.

“Your Majesty,” the prince exclaimed, “I understand now! Dividing a number by another number is indeed the same as dividing it by two factors of that number.”

The king nodded approvingly. “Well done, young prince,” he said. “You have discovered a fundamental principle of mathematics. This knowledge will serve you well in your future endeavors.”