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[–] 176 points 2 years ago (12 children)

Also, any number whose digits sum to a multiple of 3 is divisible by 3. For 51, 5+1=6, and 6 is a multiple of 3, so 51 can be cleanly divided by 3.

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  • [–] 44 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    I'd forgotten this trick. It works for large numbers too.

    122,300,223÷3 = 40,766, 741

    1+2+2+3+2+2+3 = 15

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  • [–] 52 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    threw up and died while reading this

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago (1 child)
  • [–] 26 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    The neat part is that if you add the numbers together and they're still too large to tell, you can do it again. In your example, you get 15. If you do it again, you get 6, which isn't the best example because 15 is pretty obvious, but it works.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (3 children)
  • [–] 17 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Same with 9. There are rules for every number at least through 13 that I once knew...

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  • [–] 23 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    I only know rules for 2 (even number), 3 (digits sum to 3), 4 (last two digits are divisible by 4), 5 (ends in 5 or 0), 6 (if it satisfies the rules for both 3 and 2), 9 (digits sum to 9), and 10 (ends in 0).

    I don't know of one for 7, 8 or 13. 11 has a limited goofy one that involves seeing if the outer digits sum to the inner digits. 12 is divisible by both 3 and 4, so like 6, it has to satisfy both of those rules.

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    7 is double the last number and subtract from the rest

    749 (easily divisible by 7 but for example sake)

    9*2=18

    74-18=56

    6*2=12

    5-12= -7, or if you recognize 56 is 7*8...


    I'll do another, random 6 digit number appear!

    59271

    1*2=2

    5927-2=5925

    5*2=10

    592-10=582

    2*2=4

    58-4=54, or not divisible

    I guess for this to work you should at least know the first 10 times tables...

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  • [–] 18 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Another way to tell if 59271 is divisible by 7 is to divide it by 7. It will take about the same amount of time as the trick you're presenting, and then you'll already have the result.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I'm sure every digit has rules to figure it out if you get technical enough.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago* (3 children)

    And since both 3 and 17 are prime numbers, that makes 51 a semiprime number

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    Which is why it feels kind of prime, imho. I don't know if other people get this, but I get a sense of which two-digit numbers are prime probably because of how often they show up in times tables and other maths operations.

    3*17 isn't a common operation though and doesn't show up in tables like that, so people probably aren't generally familiar with it.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Does this also work the other way round, i.e. do all multiples of three have digits that sum to a multiple of 3? All the ones I've checked so far do, but is it proven?

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Indeed, an integer is divisible by 3 if and only if the sum of its digits is divisible by 3.

    For proof, take the polynomial representation of an integer n = a_0 * 10^k + a_1 * 10^{k-1} + ... + a_k * 1. Note that 10 mod 3 = 1, which means that 10^i mod 3 = (10 mod 3)^i = 1. This makes all powers of 10 = 1 and you're left with n = a_0 + a_1 + ... + a_k. Thus, n is divisible by 3 iff a_0 + a_1 + ... + a_k is. Also note that iff answers your question then; all multiples of 3 have to, by definition, have digits whose sum is a multiple of 3

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