Divisible by 4 or 8?

Ignore the whole number — only the last digits matter.

The question

Is 7,316 divisible by 4?

The trick

For 4, check only the last two digits. For 8, check only the last three.

Worked example

1The last two digits of 7,316 are 16
216 ÷ 4 = 4 exactly
3So 7,316 is divisible by 4

So: Yes

Remember it like this

Four peeks at two digits, eight peeks at three. Count the letters if you forget — 'four' has four letters and looks at the smaller chunk.

In the exam

This makes big-number questions instant. For 8, if the last three digits are still awkward, halve the number three times instead — if you land on a whole number every time, it divides by 8.

Why it works

100 divides by 4 and 1000 divides by 8. Everything to the left of those columns is already a multiple, so it can never affect the answer.

Explain this to my childGet the words to teach it, in your language

Try it yourself

0/4 correct

1
Is 5,128 divisible by 8? (yes/no)
2
Is 934 divisible by 4? (yes/no)
3
Is 6,912 divisible by 8? (yes/no)
4
Is 1,236 divisible by 4? (yes/no)