Name _____________

Date _____________

Divisibility and Modulo

Prime Factorization
The breaking down of integers into their prime factors.

Number of factors

Example:
How many factors does 24 have?

Solution:
We know that the prime factorization is 233. This means each factor of 24 can
have 0, 1, 2, or 3 factors of 2, as well as 0 or 1 factors of 3. So in total, there are
42 = 8 options.

The general method is to multiply one plus the exponent of each prime factor.

Example:
How many factors does 23345 have?

Solution:
The prime factor exponents are 3, 4, and 1. Adding one to each and multiplying
gives 452 = 40.

Sum of Factors

Example:
What is the sum of the factors of 23345?

Solution:
All factors of 23345 are included in the expansion of (1 + 21 + 22 + 23)(1 + 31 +
32 + 33 + 34)(1 + 51). (Can you see why?) This evaluates to (15)(121)(6) = 10890.
 Name _____________
Date _____________

Factoring for factors

Example:
What is the greatest prime factor of 11! + 12! ?

Solution:
11! + 12! = 11! + 1211! = 11!(1+12) = 1311!. The greatest prime factor of 11! is
11, and the greatest prime factor of 13 is 13. The the greatest prime factor is 13.

Greatest Common Factor (gcd)

Compare the exponent of each prime factor and take the smaller of each (why?).

Lowest Common Multiple (lcm)

Compare the exponent of each prime factor and take the larger of each (why?).

Example:
a) Evaluate gcd(24, 84)
b) Evaluate lcm(24, 84)

Solution:
The prime factorization of 24 and 84 are 233 and 2237, respectively.
a) We look for the smaller exponent of each prime factor. This gives 22 and 3,
so gcd(24, 84) = 223 = 12.
b) We look for the larger exponent of each prime factor. This gives 23, 3, and
7, so lcm(24, 84) = 2337 = 168.

Any number divisible by a and b is also divisible by lcm(a,b). For example,

lcm(3,5) = 15, so any number divisible by 3 and 5 is also divisible by 15.

Example:
Find a divisibility rule for 45.

Solution:
We see that lcm(5, 9) = 45, so any number divisible by 5 and 9 is divisible by 45.
 Name _____________
Date _____________

Modulo
Taking modulo n means dividing a number by n and taking the remainder. For
example, 75 modulo 10 is 5, since 75/10 gives a remainder of 5. When two
numbers give the same result when taken modulo n, we say that they are congruent
() mod n. For example, 75 55 (mod 10) since they both produce a remainder of
5 when divided by 10.

Some helpful rules (try to figure out why each one is true):
1) If a b (mod n), then ka kb (mod n)

2) If ab c (mod n), then a(b-kn) c (mod n)

3) If a b (mod n), then ak bk (mod n)

Example:
a) What is the remainder when 57(197) is divided by 50?
b) What is the remainder when 716 is divided by 5?

Solution:
a) 57(197) 7(197) 7(47) 29 (mod 50), so the answer is 29.
b) 716 216 164 14 1 (mod 5), so the answer is 1. An alternate solution
would be listing the remainder for 7, 72, 73, and so on and finding an
pattern, but notice how much more efficient modulo is.

Problems

1) What is the prime factorization of 1400?

2) How many factors does 1400 have?

 Name _____________
Date _____________

3) What is the sum of the factors of 1400?

4) Find gcd(1400, 2400)

5) Find lcm(1400, 2400)

6) Find a divisibility rule for 24. Why doesnt 4 and 6 work?

7) *Find a divisibility rule for 1400.

8) Find the greatest prime factor of 12! + 14!.

9) Find the remainder when 267(554) is divided by 70.

10) Find the remainder when 4964 is divided by 8.

11) **Find the remainder when 1399 is divided by 25.

12) *Find the remainder when (1! + 3! + 7! + 11! + 20!)2 is divided by 30.

13) ***Prove that lcm(a,b) = ab/gcd(a,b), and that any number divisible by a
and b is also divisible by lcm(a,b), but is not necessarily divisible by any
number greater.