Basics of Numbers

Number system
1. Properties of numbers
2. Theorems of numbers
3. Divisibility rules
4. Digital root concept
5. Cyclicity of powers and finding unit digit of given mathematical
expression
6. Highest power of prime contained in factorials
7. Finding remainders:

If ‘a’ is divided by ‘b’ then what will be the remainder ?

Methods:
1. Remainder theorem
2. Binomial theorem
3. Euler’s function
4. Wilson theorem
5. Others
6. Miscellaneous questions based on number theory concepts
Properties of Numbers:
1. Every square number is of one of the forms 5n, 5n ± 1.
2. The square of every odd number is of the form 8n + 1.
3. Sum of n consecutive numbers is always divisible by n if n is odd and sum
of n consecutive numbers is never divisible by n if n is even.

Important characteristics of numbers:

1. In a two digit number difference of a number and the number obtained
by reversing its digits is always divisible by 9 and if the difference is
divided by 9, difference between digits is obtained.
2. In a two digit number sum of a number and the number obtained by
reversing its digits is always divisible by 11 and if the sum is divided by
11, sum of the digits is obtained.
3. Every prime number is of format 6x + 1 or 6x – 1, except 2 and 3.
4. Every composite number N has at least one prime divisor.
5. A composite number can be expressed as the product of prime factors in
one way only.
6. If m is prime to each of the numbers, a, b, …, k, it is prime to the product
ab …. k.
7. If ‘a’ is prime to ‘b’, then ‘an’ is prime to ‘bn’, where ‘n’ is any integer l
and conversely.
8. The sequence of primes is endless.
Practice questions :
1. What will be the unit digit if all the prime numbers are multiplied? What
will be the remainder if this number is divided by 4?

2. What will be the remainder if product of all odd prime numbers is

divided by 5?

3. P is the product of all prime numbers from 1 to 100. Then the number of
zeros at the end of the product is

4. ‘x’ is a prime number greater than 100. What will be the remainder if x2,
is divided by 12.

5. In a two digit number difference of the number and the number

obtained by reversing its digits is 36 how many such pairs are possible?

6. How many 2 digit numbers will have exactly 2 factors?

7. How many 2 digit numbers will have exactly 3 different factors?

8. If n = 1 + x, where x is the product of four consecutive positive integers,

then which of the following statements is/are true?
(1) n is odd (2) n is prime (3) n is a perfect square
A. 1 only B. 2 only C. 3 only D. 1 & 3 only

9. The sum of four consecutive natural numbers, when divided by a prime

number, becomes a prime number. Which of the following can be the
average of the middle two numbers among the four consecutive
numbers ?
A. 61.5 B. 100.5 C. 70.5 D. 53.5

10. ABC is a three-digit number such that ABC = 5(AB + BC + CA), where AB,
BC and CA are all two digit numbers. Find the total number of possible
values for the number ABC.
 A. 13 B. 12 C. 3 D. 4

11. If x and y are positive integers less than 8, how many distinct values can
the expression (3x + 7y) take ?
A. 49 B. 48 C. 21 D. 36
 Divisibility Test

(1) A number will be divisible by 2 iff the digit at the unit place is divisible by
2.
(2) A number will be divisible by 3 iff the sum of digits of the number is
divisible by 3
(3) A number will be divisible by 4 iff last two digits of the number together
are divisible by 4.
(4) A number will be divisible by 5 iff digit at the unit place is either 0 or 5.
(5) A number will be divisible by 6 iff the digit at the unit place of the
number is divisible by 2 & sum of all digits of the number is divisible by
3.
(6) Divisibility test of 7: Make two set of three nos. starts from unit digit
then add the alternate sets, and find out the mutual difference, if it is 0
or any multiple of 7 then the given no. is divisible by 7.
e.g., 001234567
567 + 001 – 234 = 334
Since 334 is not divisible by 7 the given no. is also not divisible by 7.
The same test is applicable for 11 &13. In these cases we have to see the
result is divisible by 11 or 13 respectively or not.
(7) A number will be divisible by 8 iff the last 3 digits, all together, is divisible
by 8.
(8) A number will be divisible by 9 iff sum of all it’s digits is divisible by 9.
(9) A number will be divisible by 10 iffit’s last digit is 0.
(10) A number will be divisible by 11, iff the difference between the sum of
the digits at even places and sum of the digits at odd places is a multiple
of 11.
e.g., 1298, 1221, 123321, 12344321, 1234554321, 123456654321,
795432
(11) Divisibility By 12: A number is divisible by 12, if it is divisible by both 4
and 3.
(12) Divisibility By 14:A number is divisible by 14, if it is divisible by 2 as well
as 7.
(13) Divisibility By 15: A number is divisible by 15, if it is divisible by both 3
and 5.
Practice questions:
1. X = 1234…….616263. What will be the remainder if x is divided by 8 and
9 and 72?

2. In above question if you add all digits till you get a single digit, what that
digit will be?

3. The six-digit number 73A998 is divisible by 6, How many values of A are

possible?

4. A hundred digit number is for med by writing first 54 natural numbers

one after the other as 123456…………….5354. Find the remainder when
this number is divided by 8.

5. If 233 is divided by a certain number n it gives remainder 5. What will be

the remainder 466 is divided by 2n assuming the quotient is same in
both the cases.

6. For which of the following values of n is 100  n NOT an integer ?

n
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4
(E) 5

7. If the remainder is 7 when positive integer n is divided by 18, what is the

remainder when n is divided by 6 ?
(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 3
(E) 4

8. If M and N are positive integers that have remainders of 1 and 3,

respectively, when divided by 6, which of the following could NOT be a
possible value of M + N?
(A) 86 (B) 52 (C) 34 (D) 28
(E) 10
9. When the integer n is divided by 17, the quotient is x and the remainder
is 5. When n is divided by 23, the quotient is y and the remainder is 14.
Which of the following is true?
(A) 23x + 17y = 19 (B) 17x – 23y = 9
(C) 17x + 23y = 19 (D) 14x + 5y = 6
(E) 5x – 14y = –6

10. If when 950 and 1170 are divided by a natural number d, the remainders
obtained are 18 and 5 respectively, then d is a t most
(A) 117 (B) 247 (C) 223 (D) 123

11. pq, qr, qp and pp are two-digit numers, 'pqr' is a three-digit number and
'prrp' is a four-digit number (p, q, r are all numerals.) If pq x pr = pqr,
then the remainder when (qp x prrp) is divided by 'pp' is
(A) 0 (B) 1
(C) 7 (D) None of these

12. Given that a, b, c and d are positive integers such that b3/2 = a, and d5/4 =
c. If b – d = 9. then find the value of (a – c).
(A) 92 (B) 94 (C) 95 (D) 93

13. For how many values of n less than 17, n being a positive integer, is n! +
(n + 1)! (n + 2)! an integral multiple of 49 ?
14. (A) 5 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 1
 Cyclicity of power

15. Find the unit’s digit of the expression 111 + 122 + 133 + 144 + 155 + 166.
1. 1 2. 9 3. 7 4. 0

16. Find the unit’s digit of the expression 111 × 122 × 133 × 144 × 155 × 166?
1. 1 2. 9 3. 7 4. 0

17. Find the unit’s digit of the expression : 55725 + 735810 + 22853.
1. 4 2. 0 3. 2 4. 6

18. Find the units digit of:

1111!+1 + 1212!+2 + 1313!+3 + 1414!+4 + ... + 1919!+9
1. 0 2. 8 3. 7 4. 6

19. In the number 1604320, after how many digits from the right will you
encounter the first odd digit ?
1. 4320 2. 4321 3. 4322 4. 4323
 Highest power of prime contained in factorials

1. Find number of zeros at the end of 1090!

1. 270 2. 268 3.269 4.None of these

2. If 146! is divisible by 5n, then find the maximum value of n.

1. 34 2. 35 3. 36 4. 37

3. What is the highest power of 44, which will divide P without any
remainder? Given the value of
P is 44! x 45?
1. 4 2. 20 3. 16 4. 1
Theorems on Division:
(1) If both ‘a’ and ‘b’ are divisible by ‘c’, so also is ma ± nb.
(2) If ‘r’ is the remainder when ‘a’ is divided by ‘b’, then ‘cr’ is the remainder
when ‘ca’ is divided by ‘cb’.
(3) The product of any ‘n’ consecutive integers is divisible by n .
(4) Dividend = quotient x divisor + remainder

Fermat’s Theorem:
 If p is a prime and a is any number prime to p, then ap1  1 is divisible by
p.

Corollary 1:
 If p is a prime and a is any number whatever, then ap  a is divisible by p.
 For ap  a  a(ap1  1), and if a is prime to p, ap1  1 is divisible by p,

which is a prime number. Hence in all cases a  a is divisible by p.

p

 The fifth power of any number N has the same right-hand digit as N.

Wilson’s Theorem:
 If p is a prime number, then p  1  1 is divisible by p.

Lagrange’s Theorem:
 If p is a prime and r is any number less than p – 1, the sum of the
products of the numbers 1, 2, 3, …., p – 1 taken r together is divisible by
p.
Practice questions :
1. If N = 1421 × 1423 × 1425, what is the remainder when ‘N’ is divided by
12?
1. 0 2. 1 3. 3 4. 9

2. Z is defined to be equal to 3232 + 32. What would be the remainder if Z

is divided by 33?
1. 1 2. 32 3. 0 4. 2

3. What is the remainder when 496 is divided by 6?

1. 0 2. 2 3. 3 4. 4

4. Find the unit’s digit of the expression : 55725 + 735810 + 22853.

1. 4 2. 0 3.2 4. 6

5. xy is a number that is divided by another number ab to obtain the result

N = 0. xyxyxy…………… then N should be multiplied by which smallest
integer so that it becomes an integer?
1. 99 2. 0
3. 198 4. Data insufficient

6. Let the number M be a decimal such that M = 0. pqrpqrpqrpqr… where

p, q and r are integers lying between 0 & 9. At the most two digits out of
p, q and r are equal to 0. By which of the following numbers M should be
multiplied so that it becomes a natural number?
1. 99 2. 3996 3.990 4. 39996

7. Find the remainder when 8182 is divided by 17.

1. 1 2. 4 3. 13 4. 16

8. What is the remainder when 1366 – 23 is divided by 183 ?

1. 0 2. 161 3. 22 4. 162
9. Find the number of zeros in the product : 5 × 10 × 25 × 40 × 50 × 55 × 65
× 125 × 80.
1. 8 2. 9 3. 12 4. 13

10. Find the last two digits of the product : 15 × 37 × 63 × 51 × 97 × 17.

1. 35 2. 45 3. 85 4. 65

11. Find the last two digits of the product : 122 × 123 × 125 × 127 × 129.
1. 20 2. 50 3. 30 4. 40

12. The last 3 digits of the multiplication 12345 × 54321 would be

1. 865 2. 745 3. 845 4. 945

13. Find the last digit of the number N = 13 + 23 + 33……………. + 993.

1. 0 2. 1 3. 2 4. 5

14. What is the remainder when 1025 – 7 is divided by 11?

1. 5 2. 3. 4. 3

15. What is the remainder when 337 is divided by 79?

1. 78 2. 3. 4.

16. Find the remainder if 181836 is divided by 7.

1. 4 2. 2 3. 1 4. 3

17. Find the remainder when 43101 + 23101 is divided by 66.

1. 2 2. 10 3.5 4. 0

18. What is the remainder when 196859 + 20 is divided by 18?

1. 3 2. 17 3. 2 4. 0

19. What is the remainder when 26 × 583 is divided by 100?

1. 1 2. 3. 4.
20. Find the remainder, when (109)4 × (145)8, is divided by 17?
1. 4 2. 3. 4. 1

21. What is the remainder when 6!4! + 4!6! is divided by 10?

1. 0 2. 3. 4. 6
Practice questions
1. Let n = 999 ... 99 be an integer consisting of a string of 2009 nines.
Find the sum of digits of n2
1) 18072 2) 18081 3) 18090 4) 18080

2. What is the remainder when ((55)15!)188 is divided by 17?

1) 1 2) 16 3) 3 4) 5
5) 15

3. Find the remainder when (3! + 6! + 12! + 24! + 48! + 96!) is divided by
66.
1) 0 2) 1 3) 33 4) 65

4. What is the remainder when 924 is divided by 79 ?

1) 0 2) 1 3) 47 4) 67