ChatterBank2 mins ago
Adding Numbers
13 Answers
I didn't know which section to put this into so I put it here.
Is there a name for the branch of maths whereby you keep adding numbers together until you get a single number?
F'rinstance the year 1949 added would be 23 which added would be 5.
Is there a name for the branch of maths whereby you keep adding numbers together until you get a single number?
F'rinstance the year 1949 added would be 23 which added would be 5.
Answers
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.It's not totally useless -- the digital root is a useful test for divisibility by three or nine, and understanding why that is allows you in principle to extend the approach to testing for divisibility by other numbers or in other bases. Indeed, on a personal note, my second interview for entry into the Maths Course at Cambridge was about exactly this, so it wasn't entirely useless then either.
To test for divisibility by 9, sure, but in a general base b the digital root allows to test if a number is divisible by (b-1). These days you could also just, you know, enter the division into a calculator. But playing around with digital roots can be educational if done in the right way.
Attaching any meaning beyond that is indeed meaningless numerology though.
Attaching any meaning beyond that is indeed meaningless numerology though.