Hi class, here are the solutions to the exercises in your Module 1.

1. Find the number of positive divisors of 600, inclusive of 1 and 600 itself.
Solution:
Consider the prime factorization of 600 which is 23 × 3 × 52 . An integer n must be a divisor of 600 if it divides
this prime factorization, that is, n = 2p ×3q ×5r for some nonnegative integers p, q, and r such that 0 ≤ p ≤ 3,
0 ≤ q ≤ 1, and 0 ≤ r ≤ 2. Now, there 4 possible choices for p, 2 possible choices for q, and 3 possible choices
for r. By the multiplication rule, there must be 4(2)(3) or 24 positive divisors for 600 including 1 (which is
the case for p = q = r = 0) and 600 (which is the case for p = 3, q = 1, and r = 2.

This argument may be generalized as follows. Suppose the prime factorization of a positive integer m is
f1k1 × f2k2 × · · · × frkr , where f1 , f2 , ..., and fr are prime factors of m and k1 , k2 , ..., and kr are nonnegative
integers. Then for an integer n to be a positive divisor of m, n must take the form of n = f1a1 × f2a2 × · · · × frar ,
where the nonnegative integers a1 , a2 ,..., and ar are such that 0 ≤ a1 ≤ k1 , 0 ≤ a2 ≤ k2 , ..., and 0 ≤ ar ≤ kr .
This shows that there are k1 + 1 possible values for a1 , k2 + 1 possible values for a2 , ...., and kr + 1 possible
values for ar . By the multiplication principle, the number of positive divisors of m is given by
r
Y
(k1 + 1) (k2 + 1) · · · (kr + 1) = (ki + 1) .
i=1

Applying this generalization to our case, we have k1 = 3, k2 = 1, and k3 = 2 and the required number of
positive divisors is 24.

2. Let X = {1, 2, . . . , 100} and let S = {(a, b, c) | a, b, c ∈ X, a < b, and a < c}. Find |S|.
Solution:
A strategy could be to break down the counting process by considering 99 cases corresponding to the possible
values of a, that is, suppose a = 1, 2, ..., 99. For the case of a = 1, the possible values of b and c, based on the
conditions imposed by set S, are 2, 3, ..., 100 for each of them. For the case of a = 2, the possible values of b
and c are 3, 4, ..., 100 for each of them. And finally for the case of a = 99, the only possible value of b and c is
100 for each of them. So, counting these possible values, we have 99 counts for each of b and c in case a = 1,
98 counts for each of b and c in case a = 2, and so on, until we get to the last case a = 99, where we have 1
count for each of b and c. These various counts represent the number of ordered triples (a, b, c) we can form
under the different cases. Applying both the multiplication and addition principles, we obtain the cardinality
of S as
|S| = 992 + 982 + · · · + 12 .
a=1 a=2 a=99

You may recall in your general mathematics in senior high that this sum takes the form
k
X 1
1 + 4 + 9 + · · · + k2 = i2 = k (k + 1) (2k + 1)
i=1
6

which you can prove by induction. Using this result, we find that |S| = 16 (99)(99 + 1)(198 + 1) = 328350.

I hope this helps in clarifying your attempts at solving these exercises. I hope too that you got your answers right.
I’ll send you the solutions to the exercises for modules 2 and 3 probably by tonight.

– sir Arnel