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 there is an integer k such that a = kd.
4. Prove: Let n be an integer. If 6|n, then 3|n.
5. Theorem. Let a, b, and c be integers. If a|b and a|c, then a|(b + c).
6. Theorem. Let a, b, and c be integers. If a|b and a|c, then a|(b − c).
7. Theorem. Let a, b, and c be integers. If a|b and a|c, then a|bc.
8. Question. Is the converse of the above theorem true? If a|bc, does it follow
that a|b and a|c?
9. Question. Can you keep the same hypothesis, but replace the conclusion by
a2 |bc?
10. Question. Can you weaken the hypothesis of the previous theorem and still
prove the conclusion?
11. Question. Suppose that a|c and b|c. Can we conclude that ab|c? Justify your
answer.
12. Prove. A natural number is divisible by 3 if and only if the sum of its digits
is divisible by 3.
13. Exercise. Devise and prove the other divisibility criteria, similar to the pre-
ceding one.
 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. Theorem. Every composite number N can be factored into primes.
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. Exercise. Let a be a positive integer. What is the greatest common divisor
of a and 2a? What about a and a2 ?
7. Exercise. Let a be a positive integer. What is the greatest common divisor
of a and a + 1? What about a and a + 2?
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Corollary. If a, b, and c are positive integers such that (a, b) = 1 and a|bc,
then a|c.
11. Corollary. Let a, b, and n be integers. If a|n, b|n, and (a, b) = 1, then ab|n.
12. Exercise. Let a, b, and n be integers. If (a, n) = 1 and (b, n) = 1, then
(ab, n) = 1.
13. 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).
14. Exercise. Prove that if a and b are integers (not both zero), and c is a nonzero
integer, then (ca, cb) = |c|(a, b).
15. Exercise. Prove that if a and b are both even integers (not both zero), then
(a, b) = 2(a/2, b/2).
16. Exercise. Prove that if a is an even integer and b is an odd integer, then
(a, b) = (a/2, b).
17. 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.
18. Exercise. Prove that if a, b, and c are mutually relatively prime nonzero
integers, then (a, bc) = (a, b)(a, c).
19. Exercise. Prove that if k is a positive integer, then 3k + 2 and 5k + 3 are
relatively prime.
20. Theorem: The Euclidean Algorithm. Let r0 = a and r1 = b be integers
such that a ≥ b > 0. If the division algorithm is successively applied to obtain
rj = rj+1 qj+1 + rj+2 with 0 < rj+2 < rj+1 for j = 0, 1, 2, . . . , n − 2 and rn+1 = 0,
then (a, b) = rn , the last nonzero remainder.
 Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic

1. Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic. Every positive integer can be writ-

ten uniquely as a product of primes, with prime factors. Factorization of in-
tegers in which factors are combined to form powers are called prime-power
factorizations.
2. Lemma. If a, b, and c are positive integers such that (a, b) = 1 and a|bc, then
a|c.
3. Exercise. Let a, b, and n be integers. If a|n, b|n, and (a, b) = 1, then ab|n.
4. Exercise. Let a, b, and n be integers. If (a, n) = 1 and (b, n) = 1, then
(ab, n) = 1.
5. Corollary. Let b, c ∈ Z+ . If prime p divides bc, then either p|b or p|c. Exten-
sion: Let a1 , a2 , . . . , an ∈ Z+ . If prime p divides a1 a2 · · · an , then p divides ai
for some i.
6. Definition. The least common multiple of two positive integers a and b is the
smallest possible integer that is divisible by a and b.
7. Theorem. If a and b are positive integers, then
ab
[a, b] = .
(a, b)
8. Exercise. Prove that all the powers in the prime-power factorization of an
integer n are even if and only if n is a perfect square.
9. Exercise. Which positive integers have exactly three positive divisors? four
positive divisors?
10. Exercise. Prove that if a and b are positive integers and a3 |b2 , then a|b.
11. Exercise. Let p be a prime and n a positive integer. If pa |n, but pa+1 - n, we
say that pa exactly divides n, and we write pa ||n. Prove that if pa ||m and pb ||n,
then pa+b ||mn.
12. Exercise. Give the prime-power factorization of 20!.
13. Exercise. Prove that every common multiple of the positive integers a and b
is divisible by the least common multiple of a and b.
14. Exercise. Which pairs of integers have greatest common divisor 18 and least
common multiple 540?
15. Exercise. Prove that if a and b are positive integers, then (a, b)|[a, b]. When
does (a, b) = [a, b].
16. Prove that if a and b are positive integers, then there are divisors c of a and d
of b with (c, d) = 1 and cd = [a, b].
17. Exercise. Prove that if a, b, and c are integers, then [a, b]|c if and only if a|c
and b|c.
18. Exercise. (a.)Prove that if a, b, and c are integers, then (a, b) = (a + b, [a, b]).
(b.) Find the two positive integers with sum 798 and least common multiple
10780.
19. Exercise. Prove that if p is prime and a is a positive integer with p|a2 , then
p|a.
20. Exercise. Prove that if a and b are positive integers, then a2 |b2 implies that
a|b.