Divisibility

1. Definition. The natural numbers are the numbers {1, 2, 3, 4, . . .}.

2. Definition. The integers are {. . . , −3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .}.
3. Definition. Suppose a and d are integers. Then d divides a, denoted by d|a
if and only if a = kd for some integer k.
4. Prove or disprove: If 5|n, then 10|n.
5. Prove or disprove: If 10|n, then 5|n.
6. [Important!] Let a, b, c be integers. Prove: If a|b and a|c, then:

(a) a|b + c (b) a|(b − c) (c) a|bc

7. Question. Is the converse of statement (c) above true? That is, if a|bc, does
it follow that a|b and a|c?
8. Question. Can you keep the same hypothesis (a|bc), but replace the conclusion
by a2 |bc?
9. Question. Can you weaken the hypothesis of the previous theorem and still
prove the conclusion?
10. Question. Suppose that a|c and b|c. Can we conclude that ab|c? Justify your
answer.
11. Prove. A natural number is divisible by 3 if and only if the sum of its digits
is divisible by 3.
12. Exercise. Devise and prove the other divisibility criteria, similar to the pre-
ceding one.
13. A man buys lanzones for P30 a kilo and pomelo for P60 a kilo. He bought
an integer number of kilos of each, and hands over a P500 bill. His change is
P300. Did he receive the right change?
14. The product of 66 integers is 1. Can their sum be zero? Explain.
15. (Investigate with your friends!) Select any three-digit number (ex: 539).
Then form all possible two-digit numbers from your number (in this case, 53,
59, 39, 93, 95, 35). Add these six numbers, then divide the result by the sum
of the digits in the original number (17). What do you get? Repeat and see a
pattern. Make a conjecture and prove your result algebraically.
 The Division Algorithm

1. Theorem: The Division Algorithm. If a and b are integers such that b > 0,
then there are unique integers q and r such that a = bq + r with 0 ≤ r < b.
We call q the quotient and r the remainder when a is divided by b.
2. Definition. If an integer n is divided by 2, then by the Division Algorithm,
the remainder is either 0 or 1. In this case every integer n can be written either
as n = 2k or n = 2k + 1 for some integer k. If n = 2k for some integer k then
n is even and if n = 2k + 1 for some integer k, then n is odd.
3. Note: Similarly, by the Division Algorithm, every integer is of the form 3k, 3k+
1, or 3k + 2. Also, every integer is of the form 4k, 4k + 1, 4k + 2 or 4k + 3.
4. Exercise: Formulate conclusions about the sums and products of even and/or
odd integers, and prove your assertions.
5. Exercise: Let a, b, c ∈ N. Suppose that when a is divided by b, the quotient
is c and the remainder is d. When c is divided by b0 , the quotient is c0 and the
remainder is d0 . What is the remainder when a is divided by bb0 ?
6. Exercise. Prove that the square of every odd integer is of the form 8k + 1 for
some k ∈ Z.
7. Exercise. Prove that the product of two integers of the form 6k + 5 is of the
form 6k + 1.
8. Exercise. Prove that the product of any three consecutive integers is divisible
by 6.
9. Exercise. A student tells you that every time she squares an integer and
divides the square by 3, the remainder is either 0 or 1. Do you think this is
true? If so, prove it; otherwise, give a counterexample.
10. Exercise. Prove that the cube of of any integer is of the form 9k, 9k + 1, or
9k + 8.
11. Exercise. Prove that the fourth power of any integer is of the form 5k or
5k + 1.
12. Exercise. Use mathematical induction to prove that n5 − n is divisible by 5
for every positive integer n.
13. Exercise. Use mathematical induction to prove that the sum of the cubes of
three consecutive integers is divisible by 9.
 Prime Numbers

1. Definition. A prime number is a positive integer greater than 1 that is divis-

ible by no positive integers other than 1 and itself.
2. Definition. A positive integer greater than 1 that is not prime is called com-
posite.
3. Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic Every number N can be uniquely
factored into primes (where primes are in increasing order).
4. Exercise. Prove that there are no two consecutive primes other than 2 and 3.
5. Exercise. Prove that there are no “prime triplets”, i.e., primes p, p + 2, and
p + 4 other than 3, 5, and 7.
6. Theorem. There are infinitely many primes.
7. Theorem. If n is composite, then n has a prime factor less than or equal to
√
n.
8. Definition. The function π(x), where x is a positive real number, denotes the
number of primes less than or equal to x.
9. Theorem. For any positive integer N , we can find a string of N consecutive
composite numbers.
 Greatest Common Divisor

1. Definition. The greatest common divisor of two integers a and b (not both zero) is the largest
integer that divides both a and b. The greatest common divisor of a and b is denoted by (a, b).
2. Definition. The greatest common divisor of integers a1 , a2 , . . . , an (not all zero) is the largest
integer which is a divisor of all these integers. The greatest common divisor of a1 , a2 , . . . , an is
denoted by (a1 , a2 , . . . , an ).
3. Definition. The integers a and b are called relatively prime if a and b have greatest common
divisor (a, b) = 1.
4. Defintion. The integers a1 , a2 , . . . , an are mutually relatively prime if (a1 , a2 , . . . , an ) = 1.
These integers are called pairwise relatively prime if for each pair ai and aj from the set of
these integers, then (ai , aj ) = 1.
5. Definition. If a1 , a2 , . . . , an are integers, then a linear combination of these integers is a sum
of the form k1 a1 + k2 a2 + . . . + kn an , where k1 , k2 , . . . , kn are integers.
6. Theorem. The greatest common divisor of the integers a and b, not both zero, is the least
positive integer that is a linear combination of a and b. Extension. Formulate a similar result
for more than two integers, and prove using mathematical induction.
7. Corollary. Let a and b be integers (not both zero). Then there exist integers x and y such
that ax + by = 1 if and only if (a, b) = 1.
8. Exercise. Let a be a positive integer. What is the greatest common divisor of a and 2a?
9. Exercise. Let a be a positive integer. What is the greatest common divisor of a and a2 ?
10. Exercise. Let a be a positive integer. What is the greatest common divisor of a and a + 1?
11. Exercise. Let a be a positive integer. What is the greatest common divisor of a and a + 2?
12. Exercise. Let a, b, and c be integers with (a, b) = d. Then (1) (a/d, b/d) = 1 and (2)
(a + cb, b) = (a, b).
13. Exercise. Prove that if a and b are integers (not both zero), and c is a nonzero integer, then
(ca, cb) = |c|(a, b).
14. Exercise. Show that if a and b are relatively prime, then (a + b, a − b) = 1 or 2.
15. Exercise. What is (a2 + b2 , a + b), where a and b are relatively prime and not both zero?
16. Exercise. Prove that if a and b are both even integers (not both zero), then (a, b) = 2(a/2, b/2).
17. Exercise. Prove that if a is an even integer and b is an odd integer, then (a, b) = (a/2, b).
18. Exercise. Prove that if a, b, and c are integers such that (a, b) = 1 and c|(a + b), then
(c, a) = (c, b) = 1.
19. Exercise. Prove that if a, b, and c are mutually relatively prime nonzero integers, then (a, bc) =
(a, b)(a, c).
20. Exercise. Prove that if a, b and c are integers with (a, b) = (a, c) = 1, then (a, bc) = 1.
21. Exercise. Prove that if k is an integer, then the integers 6k − 1, 6k + 1, 6k + 2, 6k + 3, and
6k + 5 are pairwise relatively prime.
22. Exercise. Prove that if k is a positive integer, then 3k + 2 and 5k + 3 are relatively prime.