Number Systems Tips by CRACKU.

IN

▪ Number Systems is the most important topic in the quantitative

section.

▪ It is a very vast topic and a significant number of questions appear

in CAT every year from this section.

▪ Learning simple tricks like divisibility rules, HCF and LCM, prime
number and remainder theorems can help improve the score
drastically.

▪ This document presents best short cuts which makes this topic
easy and helps you perform better.

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Cracku Tip 1 - Number systems
HCF and LCM
▪ HCF * LCM of two numbers = Product of two numbers

▪ The greatest number dividing a, b and c leaving remainders

of x1, x2 and x3 is the HCF of (a-x1), (b-x2) and (c-x3).

▪ The greatest number dividing a, b and c (a<b<c) leaving the same

remainder each time is the HCF of (c-b), (c-a), (b-a).

▪ If a number, N, is divisible by X and Y and HCF(X,Y) = 1. Then, N is

divisible by X*Y

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Cracku Tip 2 - Number systems
Prime and Composite Numbers

▪ Prime numbers are numbers with only two factors, 1 and the
number itself.

▪ Composite numbers are numbers with more than 2 factors.

Examples are 4, 6, 8, 9.

▪ 0 and 1 are neither composite nor prime.

▪There are 25 prime numbers less than 100.

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 Cracku Tip 3 - Number systems
Properties of Prime numbers
▪ To check if n is a prime number, list all prime factors less than or
equal to √n. If none of the prime factors can divide n then n is a
prime number.

▪ For any integer a and prime number p, ap−a is always divisible

by p

▪ All prime numbers greater than 2 and 3 can be written in the form
of 6k+1 or 6k-1

▪ If a and b are co-prime then a(b-1) mod b = 1.

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Cracku Tip 4 - Number systems
Theorems on Prime numbers
Fermat's Theorem:

Remainder of a^(p-1) when divided by p is 1, where p is a prime

Wilson's Theorem:

Remainder when (p-1)! is divided by p is (p-1) where p is a prime

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Cracku Tip 5 - Number systems
Theorems on Prime numbers

Remainder Theorem

▪ If a, b, c are the prime factors of N such that N= ap * bq * cr

Then the number of numbers less than N and co-prime to N is
ϕ(N)= N (1-1/a) (1 - 1/b) (1 - 1/c).
This function is known as the Euler's totient function.

Euler's theorem

▪ If M and N are co-prime to each other then remainder

when Mϕ(N) is divided by N is 1.

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Cracku Tip 6 - Number systems

▪ Highest power of n in m! is [m/n]+[m/n2]+[m/n3]+…..

Ex: Highest power of 7 in 100! = [100/7] +[100/49] = 16

▪ To find the number of zeroes in n! find the highest power of 5 in n!

▪ If all possible permutations of n distinct digits are added together

the sum = (n-1)! * (sum of n digits) * (11111... n times)

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 Cracku Tip 7 - Number systems

▪ If the number can be represented as N = ap ∗ bq∗ cr. . . then

number of factors the is (p+1) * (q+1) * (r+1)

▪ Sum of the factors =

▪ If the number of factors are odd then N is a perfect square.

▪ If there are n factors, then the number of pairs of factors would be

n/2. If N is a perfect square then number of pairs (including the
square root) is (n+1)/2

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Cracku Tip 8 - Number systems

If the number can be expressed as N = 2p ∗ aq ∗ br . . . where

the power of 2 is p and a, b are prime numbers

▪ Then the number of even factors of N = p (1+q) (1+r) . . .

▪ The number of odd factors of N = (1+q) (1+r)…

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 Cracku Tip 9 - Number systems

Number of positive integral solutions of the equation x2 - y2 = k is given

by

Total number of factors of k

▪ (If k is odd but not a perfect square)
2

(Total number of factors of k) − 1

▪ (If k is odd and a perfect square)
2

k
Total number of factors of
▪ 4
(If k is even and not a perfect square)
2

k
(Total number of factors of ) −1
▪ 4
(If it is even and a perfect square)
2

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 Cracku Tip 10 - Number systems

▪ Number of digits in ab = [ b logm(a) ] + 1 ; where m is the base

of the number and [.] denotes greatest integer function

▪ Even number which is not a multiple of 4, can never be

expressed as a difference of 2 perfect squares.

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Cracku Tip 11 - Number systems

▪ Sum of first n odd numbers is n2

▪ Sum of first n even numbers is n(n+1)

▪ The product of the factors of N is given by Na/2, where a is

the number of factors

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 Cracku Tip 12 - Number systems

▪ The last two digits of a2, (50 - a)2, (50+a)2, (100 - a)2 . . .. . . . . are
same.

▪ If the number is written as 210n

When n is odd, the last 2 digits are 24.

When n is even, the last 2 digits are 76.

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Cracku Tip 13 - Number systems

Divisibility

▪ Divisibility by 2: Last digit divisible by 2

▪ Divisibility by 4: Last two digits divisible by 4

▪ Divisibility by 8: Last three digits divisible by 8

▪ Divisibility by 16: Last four digit divisible by 16

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 Cracku Tip 14 - Number systems

Divisibility

▪ Divisibility by 3: Sum of digits divisible by 3

▪ Divisibility by 9: Sum of digits divisible by 9

▪ Divisibility by 27: Sum of blocks of 3 (taken right to left) divisible by 27

▪ Divisibility by 7: Remove the last digit, double it and subtract it from the
truncated original number. Check if number is divisible by 7

▪Divisibility by 11: (sum of odd digits) - (sum of even digits) should be 0

or divisible by 11
Cracku Tip 15 - Number systems

Divisibility properties

▪ For composite divisors, check if the number is divisible by the

factors individually. Hence to check if a number is divisible by 6 it
must be divisible by 2 and 3.

▪ The equation an−bn is always divisible by a-b. If n is even it is

divisible by a+b. If n is odd it is not divisible by a+b.

▪ The equation an+bn , is divisible by a+b if n is odd. If n is even it

is not divisible by a+b.

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 Cracku Tip 16 - Number systems

• Converting from decimal to base b. Let R1, R2 . . . be the

remainders left after repeatedly dividing the number with b.
Hence, the number in base b is given by ... R2R1.

• Converting from base b to decimal - multiply each digit of the

number with a power of b starting with the rightmost digit and b0.

• A decimal number is divisible by b-1 only if the sum of the digits

of the number when written in base b are divisible by b-1.

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 Cracku Tip 17 - Number systems

Cyclicity
▸To find the last digit of an find the cyclicity of a. For Ex. if a=2,
we see that
▸21=2
▸22=4
▸23=8
▸24=16
▸25=32
Hence, the last digit of 2 repeats after every 4th power. Hence
cyclicity of 2 = 4. Hence if we have to find the last digit of an,
The steps are:
1. Find the cyclicity of a, say it is x
2. Find the remainder when n is divided by x, say remainder r
3. Find ar if r>0 and ax when r=0
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Cracku Tip 18 - Number systems

▪ (a + b)(a - b) = (a2 - b2)

▪ (a + b)2 = (a2 + b2 + 2ab)

▪ (a - b)2 = (a2 + b2 - 2ab)

▪ (a + b + c)2 = a2 + b2 + c2 + 2(ab + bc + ca)

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Cracku Tip 19 - Number systems

▪ (a3 + b3) = (a + b)(a2 - ab + b2)

▪ (a3 - b3) = (a - b)(a2 + ab + b2)

▪ (a3 + b3 + c3 - 3abc) = (a + b + c)( a2 + b2 + c2 - ab - bc - ac)

▪ When a + b + c = 0, then a3 + b3 + c3 = 3abc.

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