Odd and Even Numbers

Question 1
1.Let x, y and z be distinct integers. x and y are odd and positive, and z is even and
positive. Which one of the following statements cannot be true?
1. (x - z)2 y is even
2.(x - z) y2 is odd
3.(x - z) y is odd
4.(x - y)2 z is even
5.(x + y)3 z is even
Correct Answer - (x - z)2 y is even. Choice (1)

Explanatory Answer
(x - z)2 y is even cannot be true.

x is odd and z is even. Therefore, x - z is odd.

And y is odd.
Therefore, (x - z)2 will be odd and (x - z)2 y will be
odd.

Correct answer is choice (1)

Level of difficulty : Easy to Moderate

stion 2: How many factors of 1080 are perfect squares?

Explanatory Answer
Method of solving this CAT Question from
Number Theory - Factors: We know how to find
number of factors of a number. How do you find
the number of factors that are perfect squares?
1080 = 23 * 33 * 5. For any perfect square, all the
powers of the primes have to be even numbers.
So, if the factor is of the form 2a * 3b * 5c.
The values 'a' can take are 0 and 2, b can take are
0 and 2, and c can take the value 0.
Totally there are 4 possibilities. 1, 4, 9, and 36.
The question is "How many factors of 1080 are
perfect squares?"
Hence the answer is 4.
Choice A is the correct answer.
Question 3: How many factors of 27 * 38 *
55 are perfect squares?

a) 18 Explanatory Answer
b) 24 Method of solving this CAT Question from
c) 36 Number Theory - Factors: Given a prime
d) 8 factorization, how do we find how many factors of
the number are perfect squares.
Any factor of this number should be of the form
2a * 3b * 5c.
For the factor to be a perfect square a,b,c have to
be even.
a can take values 0, 2, 4.
b can take values 0, 2, 4, 6
and c can take values 0, 2
Total number of perfect squares = 3 * 4 * 2 = 24
The question is "How many factors of 25 * 36 *
52 are perfect squares?"
Hence the answer is 24.
Choice B is the correct answer.
Question 4: How many factors of 24 * 53 *
74 are odd numbers?
a) 100 Explanatory Answer
b) 99 Method of solving this CAT Question from
c) 20 Number Theory - Factors: How many factors
d) 24 does a number have? That's a straightforward qn.
How many factors of a number are odd; now that's
an interesting variant.
Any factor of this number should be of the form
2a * 5b * 7c.
For the factor to be an odd number,
a should be 0.
b can take values 0, 1, 2, 3.
and c can take values 0, 1, 2, 3, 4.
Total number of odd factors = 4 * 5 = 20.
The question is "How many factors of 24 * 53 *
74 are odd numbers?"
Hence the answer is 20
Choice C is the correct answer
Question 5: How many factors of the number 28 * 36 * 54 * 105 are
multiples of 120?
a) 540 Explanatory Answer
b) 660 Method of solving this CAT Question from
c) 594 Number Theory - Factors: How many factors of
d) 792 number N are also multiples of number K? Have
you ever thought of that? Well, now you should.
The prime factorization of 28 * 36 * 54 * 105 is 213 *
36 * 59.
For any of these factors questions, start with the
prime factorization. Remember that the formulae
for number of factors, sum of factors, are all linked
to prime factorization.
120 can be prime-factorized as 23 * 3 * 5.
All factors of 213 * 36 * 59 that can be written as
multiples of 120 will be of the form 23 * 3 * 5 * K.
213 * 36 * 59 = 23 * 3 * 5 * K
=> K = 210 * 35 * 58.
The number of factors of N that are multiples of
120 is identical to the number of factors of K.
Number of factors of K = (10 + 1) (5 + 1) * (8 + 1)
= 11 * 6 * 9 = 594
Alternative approach
Any factor of 213 * 36 * 59. will be of the form 2p *
3q * 5r. When we are trying to find the number of
factors without any constraints, we see that.
p can take values 0, 1, 2, 3......13 – 14 values.
q can take values 0, 1, 2......6 – 7 values.
r can take values 0, 1, 2, 3......9 – 10 values.
So, the total number of factors will be 14 * 7 * 10.
This is just a rehash of our formula (a + 1) (b + 1)
(c + 1).
In this scenario we are looking for factors of 213 *
36 * 59 that are multiples of 120. These will also
have to be of the form 2p * 3q * 5r. But as 120 is
23 * 3 * 5, the set of values p, q, r can take are
limited.
p can take values 3, .......13 – 11 values
q can take values 1, 2, .......6 – 6 values
r can take values 1, 2, 3, .......9 – 9 values
So, the total number of factors that are multiples
of 120 will be 11 * 6 * 9 = 594.
The question is "How many factors of the
number 28 * 36 * 54 * 105 are multiples of
120?"
Question 6: Number N = 26 * 55 * 76 * 107; how many factors of N are even
numbers?
1.1183
2.1200 Explanatory Answer
3.1050 Method of solving this CAT Question from
4.540 Number Theory - Factors: How many even
factors does a number have? Now that's a rather
odd question. Think about that.
The prime factorization of 26 * 55 * 76 * 107 is 213 *
512 * 76.
The total number of factors of N = 14 * 13 * 7
We need to find the total number of even factors.
For this, let us find the total number of odd factors
and then subtract this from the total number of
factors. Any odd factor will have to be a
combination of powers of only 5 and 7.
Total number of odd factors of 213 * 512 * 76 = (12 +
1) * (6 + 1) = 13 * 7
Total number of factors = (13 + 1) * (12 + 1) * (6
+ 1)
Total number of even factors = 14 * 13 * 7 - 13 * 7
Number of even factors = 13 * 13 * 7 = 1183
Alternative approach
Any factor of 213 * 512 * 76. will be of the form 2p *
3q * 5r.
Any even factor of 213 * 512 * 76 will also be of the
same form, except that p cannot be zero in this
case.
p can take values 1, 2, 3, .........13 – 13 values
q can take values 0, 1, 2, .........12 – 13 values
r can take values 0, 1, 2, 3,….5 – 7 values
So, the total number of even factors be 13 * 13 * 7
= 1183
The question is "How many factors of N are
even numbers?"
Hence the answer is 1183
Choice A is the correct answer.
Question 7: Numbers A, B, C and D have 16, 28, 30 and 27 factors.
Which of these could be a perfect cube?
a) A and B
b) B and C
c) A, B and C
d) B and D
Explanatory Answer
Method of solving this CAT Question from Number Theory - Factors: We can find number of
factors of a given perfect cube. Given the number of factors, can you say if the no. is a perfect cube.
Any number of the form paqbrc will have (a + 1) (b + 1) (c + 1) factors, where p, q, r are prime. In
order for the number to be a perfect cube a, b, c will have to be multiples of 3.

We can assume that a = 3m, b = 3n, c = 3l.

This tells us that the number of factors will have to be of the form (3n + 1) * (3m + 1) * (3l + 1). In
other words (a + 1), (b + 1) and (c + 1) all leave a remainder of 1 on division by 3. So, the product
of these three numbers should also leave a remainder of 1 on division by 3. Of the four numbers
provided, 16 and 28 can be written in this form, the other two cannot.

So, a perfect cube can have 16 or 28 factors. Now, let us think about what kind of numbers will have
16 factors.
A number of the form p15 or q3r3 will have exactly 16 factors. Both are perfect cubes. Note that there
are other prime factorizations possible that can have exactly 16 factors. But these two forms are
perfect cubes, which is what we are interested in.
Similarly, a number of the form p27 or q3r6 will have 28 factors. Both are perfect cubes.
The question is "Which of these could be a perfect cube?"
Hence the answer is A and B.
Choice A is the correct answer.
Question 8: If a three digit number ‘abc’ has 3 factors, how many factors does the 6-digit
number ‘abcabc’ have?
a) 16 factors
b) 24 factors
c) 16 or 24 factors
d) 20 factors
Explanatory Answer
Method of solving this CAT Question from Number Theory - Factors: Beauty of the
number 1001. This number is not prime, is a product of three distinct primes and does wonderful
things to three-digit numbers when multiplied to them.
‘abc’ has exactly 3 factors, so ‘abc’ should be square of a prime number. (This is an important
inference, please remember this).
Any number of the form paqbrc will have (a + 1) (b + 1) (c + 1) factors, where p, q, r are prime.
So, if a number has 3 factors, its prime factorization has to be p 2.

‘abcabc’ = ‘abc’ * 1001 or abc * 7 * 11 * 13 (again, this is a critical idea to remember)

Now, ‘abc’ has to be square of a prime number. It can be either 121 or 169 (square of either 11
or 13) or it can be the square of some other prime number.
When abc = 121 or 169, then ‘abcabc’ is of the form p3q1r1 1, which should have 4 * 2 * 2 = 16
factors.

When ‘abc’ = square of any other prime number (say 172 which is 289) , then ‘abcabc’ is of the
form p1q1r1s2 , which should have 2 * 2 * 2 * 3 = 24 factors
So, ‘abcabc’ will have either 16 factors or 24 factors.
The question is "How many factors does the 6-digit number ‘abcabc’ have?"
Hence the answer is 16 factors or 24 factors.
Choice C is the correct answer.
Question 10: Find the smallest number that has exactly 18
factors.
a) 180
b) 216
c) 240
d) None of these
Explanatory Answer
Method of solving this CAT Question from Number Theory - Factors: Given prime factorization,
getting to the number of factors is easy. Given number of factors, how does one get to the prime
factorization? Chew on that.
Any number of the form paqbrc will have (a + 1) (b + 1) (c + 1) factors, where p, q, r are prime. (This is a
very important idea)

Now, the number we are looking for has 18 factors. It can comprise one prime, two primes or three
primes.
Now, 18 can be written as 1 * 18 or 3 * 6 or 9 * 2 or 2 * 3 * 3.
If we take the underlying prime factorization of N to be p aqb, then it can be of the form p1q8 or p2q5
If we take the underlying prime factorization of N to be p a, then it can be of the form p17
If we take the underlying prime factorization of N to be p aqbrc, then it can be of the form p1q2r2

So, N can be of the form p17, p2q5, p1q8 or p1q2r2

Importantly, these are the only possible prime factorizations that can result in a number having 18
factors.
Now, let us think of the smallest possible number in each scenario
p17 - Smallest number = 217
p2q5 – 32 * 25
p1q8 – 31 * 28
p1q2r2 – 51 * 32 * 22
The smallest of these numbers is 51 * 32 * 22 = 180
The question is "Find the smallest number that has exactly 18 factors."
Question 11: A number N2 has 15 factors. How many
factors can N have?
a) 5 or 7 factors
b) 6 or 8 factors
c) 4 or 6 factors
d) 9 or 8 factors
Explanatory Answer
Method of solving this CAT Question from Number Theory -
Factors: Number has 15 factors, how many factors might square root of
that number have. These open-ended questions are very instructive.
Any number of the form paqbrc will have (a + 1) (b + 1) (c + 1) factors,
where p, q, r are prime. (This is a very important idea)

N2 has 15 factors.
Now, 15 can be written as 1 * 15 or 3 * 5.
If we take the underlying prime factorization of N2 to be paqb, then it
should have (a + 1) (b + 1) factors. So, N can be of the form
p14 or p2q4
p14 will have (14 + 1) = 15 factors
p2q4 will have (2 + 1) * (4 + 1) = 15 factors. Importantly, these are the
only two possible prime factorizations that can result in a number having
15 factors.
The question is "How many factors can N have?"
Hence the answer is 6 or 8 factors.
Choice B is the correct answer.
CAT 2017 Cyclicity in Number Systems from Quantitative
Aptitude