www.edusaathi.

com

NUMBER SYSTEM - Formulas & Shortcuts

Even and Odd
1. CLASSIFICATION OF NUMBERS

Apply to integers only. A number is said to be an even number

if it is divisible by 2 (can be written in the form 2k) or else it is
an odd number (written in the form 2k1)
Zero is considered as even

Numbers

Real

Rational

Irrational

Integers

Negative
integers

Zero

Imaginary

Fractions

Positive
Integers

Prime
Numbers

Proper
Fraction

Improper
Fraction

Composite
Numbers

Rational Number
A number that can be expressed as a fraction p/q where p and
q are integers and q 0
All the rational numbers can be represented as a finite decimal
(terminating type) or as a recurring decimal
Irrational Number
Any real number that is not a rational number i.e., one that
cannot be written as a ratio of two integers, i.e., it is not of the
form p/q where p and q are integers and q 0
irrational numbers are precisely those numbers which are nonterminating (never ending) and non- repeating (never enters a
periodic pattern)
Eg: The square root of 2,3,5,7.. and , etc.

Whole Numbers: Non Negative Integers: 0,1,2,3,4,..

Natural Numbers: Positive Integers: 1, 2,3, 4,5 .

info@edusaathi.com

Prime number
A prime number is a natural number that has exactly2 factors (
one and the number itself)
1is not a prime number (1 only has one factor only)
a number has more than two factors it is called a composite
number

Page | 1

www.edusaathi.com
first few prime numbers:
2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61,
67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97, 101, 103, 107, 109, 113, 127, 131,
137, 139, 149, 151, 157, 163, 167, 173, 179, 181, 191, 193,
197, 199, etc.
there are 25 prime numbers between 1-100
2 is the only even prime number
1 is neither prime nor composite
Every Prime number can be expressed in the form 6k1. But
every number of this form is not a prime number
There are infinite set of Twin Prime (pair of prime numbers
differ by 2 e.g. (3,5), (11,13) etc.
There is exactly one set of Prime Number Triplet N, N+2, N+4
(3, 5, 7)
How to find if the given number is prime or not?
A prime number is not divisible by any other prime number below its
square root
Step 1: Find the approximate square root of the given number
Step 2: Divide this will all the prime numbers below its square root

If it is divisible => Not a prime number

If not divisible => Prime Number

Eg. Is 179 prime? 179 = 13.3

Check for divisibility of 179 with prime numbers below 13
(2,3,5,7,11). Since 179 is not divisible by any 179 is a prime
number
Co-Prime Numbers
Any Numbers whos HCF is 1are known as Co-Prime
Numbers

Perfect Square
a number that can be expressed as the product of two equal
integers
Unit Digit of a perfect square can be 0 (even numbers of
zeroes), 1, 4, 5, 6, 9
Digit Sum of any perfect square can be 1, 4, 9, 7
Always have odd number of Factors
Perfect Number
Any positive integer that is equal to the sum of its distinct
proper factors (factors other than the number itself)
2n-1(2n-1), where n is a positive integer. For example- 6, 28,
496 etc
II. DIVISIBILITY RULES
Division by 2
The Last digit should be divisible by 2 i.e 2,4,6,8 or can be 0
Division by 3
Add up the digits: if the sum is divisible by three, then the
number is as well
Division by 4
The Last two digits should be divisible by 4 or can be 00
Division by 5
If the last digit is a five or a zero, then the number is divisible
by 5
Division by 6
If the number is divisible by both 3 and 2, it is divisible by 6

For Example- 4,9

info@edusaathi.com

Page | 2

www.edusaathi.com
Division by 7
To find out if a number is divisible by seven, take the last digit,
double it, and subtract it from the rest of the number
If you get an answer divisible by 7(including zero), then the
original number is divisible by 7. Repeat this sequence as
necessary
Division by 8
The Last three digits should be divisible by 8 or can be 000
Division by 9
Add the digits. If that sum is divisible by nine, then the original
number is as well
Division by 10
If the number ends in 0, it is divisible by 10
Division by 11
Find the sum of alternate numbers and if the difference
between those two numbers is zero or multiple of 11 then the
number is divisible by 11
Division by 12
If the number is divisible by both 3 and 4, it is divisible by 12

III. FACTORS
Factors of a number are a set of numbers less than or equal
to the given number which divides the given number
completely => No remainder
There can always finite factors of a number
For 12 the factors are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12
No Fractions..Factors are positive or negative whole
numbers

info@edusaathi.com

a) Number Of Factors
Step 1: Write the number in the prime factorization form
N = ap * bq *cr
where a,b,c are the prime factors
Step 2: Number of positive factors for the number N would
be = (p+1)*(q+1)*(r+1)
this
includes
1
and
the
number
itself
2
2
For example, if N = 441 = 3 * 7 then the number of
factors is
(2+1)*(2+1)=3*3=9
b) Sum of the factors
The sum of all the positive factors of the given number N
Use the formula for sum of a GP to find the required
answer

c) Number of Co prime Factors

Factors which have a HCF of 1 are known as co prime
factors
No of ways N can be written as the product of its 2 coprime factors = 2(m-1); where m is the number of distinct
prime factors of N
d) Highest Common Factor (HCF)
The largest number that divides two or more given numbers
is called the highest common factor (HCF) of those numbers
To find the HCF of given numbers perform the prime
factorization of all the numbers and then check for
the common factors --- > Highest Common Factor
HCF is given by the lowest indices of the common prime
factors
Also known as GREATEST COMMON DIVISIOR (GCD)
Page | 3

www.edusaathi.com
e) Lowest Common Multiple (LCM)
LCM of two or more numbers is the lowest number
which is divisible by all the given numbers
After performing the prime factorization of the
numbers, we find the highest index, among the given, of
all the prime numbers
The LCM is the product of all these prime numbers
with their respective highest indices
For two given numbers A and B,
Product of the numbers = LCM(A,B) X HCF(A,B)
f) Properties of HCF and LCM
The HCF of two or more numbers is smaller than or
equal to the smallest of those numbers
The LCM of two or more numbers is greater than or
equal to the largest of those numbers
If the HCF of numbers N1, N2 is K => then N1, N2 can
be written as multiples of K Kx, Ky
Since the HCF divides all the numbers, every number
is a multiple of the HCF
If the HCF of two numbers N1 and N2 is K, then, the
numbers (N1 + N2) and (N1 - N2) are also divisible by
K
If L is the LCM of N1, N2, N3, N4 => all the multiples
of L are divisible by N1, N2, N3, N4
If a number N always leaves a remainder R when
divided by the numbers P1, P2, P3, then N = LCM (or a
multiple of LCM) of P1, P2, P3 + R

g) LCM of Fractions
LCM of Fractions = LCM of Numerators
HCF of Denominators
h) HCF of Fractions
HCF of Fractions = HCF of Numerators
LCM of Denominators

IV. CYCLICITY
A) Unit digit cyclicity
The concept of cyclicity is used to find out the last digit
of any number raised to any power
The unit digit will depend on the unit digit of the
numbers given. It will not depend on the tens or
hundreds digit
0,1,5,6

Cyclicity of 1

2,3,7,8

Cyclicity of 4

4,9

Cyclicity of 2

Steps to find unit digit

1. Identify the unit digit of the given number
2. Find the cyclicity of that unit digit
3. Divide the power of given number with its cyclicity to find
the remainder (r)
4. Final Unit digit = (Given unit digit)^ r

info@edusaathi.com

Page | 4

www.edusaathi.com
B) Finding the tens place digit
Remainder with 100 gives the last two digits
Cyclicity of tens place exist similar to unit digit
For Odd Numbers:
o If last digit is (..1,3,7,9) 20N = Last two digits
are 01
o If last digit is (.5)N>1 (N being even) = last
two digits will be 25
For Even numbers: 210 = 1024
o (210 )odd = last two digits are 24
o (210 )even = last two digits are 76
o 76 X any power of 2 = last two digits are given

V. REMAINDERS
Dividend = Divisor Quotient + Remainder
A number is divisible by another number if the remainder is
zero
Quotient obtained should be an integer: Can be negative,
positive or zero
Remainder of a number (M) when divided by (N) would be
between 0 and N-1
Remainders are additive in nature
Remainders are multiplicative in nature
To find the remainder when both the dividend and the divisor
have a factor in common,
o Take out the common factor (k) (i.e. divide the numbers
by the common factor)
o Divide the resulting dividend (A) by resulting divisor
(B) and find the remainder (R 1)
info@edusaathi.com

o The actual remainder R is this remainder R 1 multiplied

by the common factor (k)
(A+1)N / A : will give 1 as the remainder (for all natural values
of
A and N)
AN / A+1 : When N is even, remainder is 1 and when N is
odd, remainder is A itself
If N is divisible by Q, then all the multiples of N will be
divisible by Q => remainder would be zero in all such cases
If N is divisible by Q, then all the factors of Q will also divide
N => remainder would be zero in all such cases
Whenever you are getting negative number as a remainder,
make it positive by adding the divisor to the negative
remainder
Any number a repeated N times is divisible by P where P is a
prime number and N is the recurring decimal of P
Remainder Theorems
1) EULERS THEOREM
Eulers Remainder theorem states that for co prime numbers M
and N, Remainder [M(N) / N] = 1
Euler's totient or phi function, (n) is an arithmetic function
that counts the number of positive integers less than or equal to
n that are relatively prime (co-prime) to n
N = ap * bq *cr
Page | 5

www.edusaathi.com
where a,b,c are the prime factors

7) Remainder[(a + b + c + ...) / (a + b + c + ...) ] = 0 if ( a + b + c + ...

are in Arithmetic progression and n is odd

(n) = N x (1 - 1/a) *(1 - 1/b) * (1 - 1/c)

8) Remainder[(an + bn) / (a + b) ] = 0 when n is odd

If n is prime then (n) = n 1

9) The remainder when f(x) = a + bx + cx2+ dx3+ is divided by (x-a)
is f(a)

2) FERMETS THEOREM

10) Any digit repeated ( P - 1 ) times is divisible by P, where P is a

prime > 5

Remainder of a( p 1 )/ p is 1
Hcf(A,P) = 1 and p is a prime number

11) The remainder when f(x) = a + bx + cx2+ dx3+ is divided by (x-a)

is f(a)

o Remainder of ap / p is a
12) Remainder[(ax - 1)n / a ] = 1 when n is even

3) WILSONS THEOREM
13) Remainder[(ax - 1)n / a ] = (a-1) when n is odd
Remainder[(p-1)! / p ] = (p-1), if p is a prime number
14) Remainder[(ax + 1)n / a] = 1 for all values of n

Remainder of [(p-1)! + 1] / p is zero

Remainder of (p-2)! / p is 1

4) CHINESE REMAINDER THEOREM

If, Remainder [N / a] = r1 and Remainder [N / b] = r2
Then, Remainder [N / a*b] = ar2x+br1y; such that ax+by=1
5) Remainder[(an - bn) / (a + b) ] = 0 when n is even
6) Remainder [(an - bn) / (a - b) ] = 0

info@edusaathi.com

15) Any digit written three times side by side will be divisible by 3 and
37. For eg: 777 is divisible by 3 and 37
16) Any digit written six times or 9 times or 3n times will be divisible by
3 and 37
17) Any number of the format abcabc will be divisible by 7, 11 and 13

VI. NUMBER OF ZEROS IN THE END

Number of zeros refer to the highest power of 10 which can divide
a factorial
10 is not prime => 10 = 2X 5 => Answer = min (highest power of 2
and 5) power of 5 is sufficient for the answer

Page | 6

www.edusaathi.com
VII. HIGHEST POWER DIVIDING A FACTORIAL

Highest power of the given number that completely divides

factorial of another number
Remainder is zero
N! = 1 X 2 X 3 X 4 X 5 X 6.. N
0! = 1
1! = 1
N! = N (N-1)!
To calculate the highest power of p (prime number) in N!
[N/p]+[N/p2] +[N/p3] +[N/p4] +[N/p5]+. Till it becomes 0

Eg: Highest power of 5 in 60! = [60/5]+[60/52]=12+2=14

info@edusaathi.com

Page | 7