Odd and Even Numbers
Even numbers are numbers that divide by 2
without leaving a remainder. Odd numbers are the numbers
that, when divided by 2, leave a remainder of 1. The only number
that might cause you to scratch your head is zero. It turns out
that zero is, in fact, even.
So zero is the only number that has a strange property
in terms of odd and even. How often do you think zero just
happens to appear on the SAT?
Operations and Odd and Even Numbers
Now that you’ve been introduced to odd and even numbers,
it’s time to get down to business. You have to know how to add,
subtract, multiply, and divide odd and even numbers:
| Addition |
Subtraction |
Multiplication |
| even + even = even |
even – even = even |
even even
= even |
| odd + odd = even |
odd – odd = even |
odd odd
= odd |
| even + odd = odd |
even – odd = odd |
even odd
= even |
| odd +even = odd |
odd – even = oddd |
odd even
= even |
Knowing these general rules makes it easier for you to
eliminate answer choices on multiple-choice items. If you know your
answer needs to be an odd number, for instance, you should be able
to eliminate all the even-numbered answer choices.
