MATH

NUMBERS

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 NUMBERS

Natural Numbers: 1,2,3,4 are called natural numbers or

positive integers.
Whole Numbers: 0,1,2,3 are called whole numbers.
Whole numbers include “0”.
Positive Fractions: 2/3, 4/5, 7/8 are called positive
fractions.
Negative Fractions: The numbers -6/8, - 7/19, - 12/47,
...are called negative fractions.
Rational Numbers: The word ‘rational’ arises from the
term ‘ratio’. You know that a ratio like 3:2 can also be
3
written as . Here, 3 and 2 are natural numbers.
2
Similarly, the ratio of two integers p and q (q ≠ 0), i.e.,
p:qcan be written in the form p
.
q

This is the form in which rational numbers are expressed.

A rational number is defined as a number that can be
expressed in the form p
, where p and q are integers and q
q
4
≠0. Thus, is a rational number. Here, p = 4 and q = 5.
5

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 3
Is also a rational number? Yes, because p = – 3 and q
4
5 4
= 4 are integers. You have seen many fractions like , ,
7 9
3
2 …..etc. All fractions are rational numbers.
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Numerator and Denominator
In p
, the integer p is the numerator, and the integer q (≠
q
3
0) is the denominator. Thus, in , the numerator is –3
7
and the denominator is 7.
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE RATIONAL NUMBERS
5
Consider the rational number . Both the numerator and
7
denominator of this number are positive integers. Such a
rational number is called a positive rational number.
2 5 4
So, , , …..etc. are positive rational numbers.
9 8 9
3
The numerator of is a negative integer, whereas the
5
denominator is a positive integer. Such a rational number
4 3 5
is called a negative rational number. So, , ,
7 8 9
……etc. are negative rational numbers.
Ex 1: Mention five rational numbers each of whose

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 (a) Numerator is a negative integer and
denominator is a positive integer.
(b) Numerator is a positive integer and
denominator is a negative integer.
(c) Numerator and denominator both are negative
integers.
(d) Numerator and denominator both are positive
integers.
1  3  4  2  3
Sol: (a) , , , ,
4 5 7 5 7
1 3 4 2 3
(b) , , , ,
 4  25  17  15  7
2 3  2  13  3
(c) , , , ,
 5  5  15  17  7
1 2 3 1 4
(d) , , , ,
4 5 7 5 7
Any integer can be thought of as a rational number.
For example, the integer –7 is a rational number,
7
because you can write it as . The integer 0 can
1
0 0
also be written as0 = or etc. Hence, it is also a
3 5
rational number. Thus, rational numbers include
integers and fractions.

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Equivalent rational numbers
A rational number can be written with different
numerators and denominators.
By multiplying the numerator and denominator of a rational
number by the same non zero integer, we obtain another
rational number equivalent to the given rational number.
This is exactly like obtaining equivalent fractions.
Irrational Numbers: An infinite non-recurring decimal
number is known as an irrational number. These
numbers cannot be expressed in the form of a proper
fraction a/b where b  0., e.g. 2 , 5 , , etc.
Surds: Any root of a number, which cannot be exactly
found is called a surd. Essentially, all surds are irrational
numbers. e.g. √2, √5 etc.
Surds of the form x + √y, x - √y are called binomial
quadratic surds, where x + √y and x - √y are called
conjugate surds, each being the conjugate of the other.
Even Numbers: The numbers divisible by two are called
even numbers,e.g., 4, 0, 2, 16 etc.
Odd Numbers: The numbers not divisible by two are odd
numbers, e.g., 7, -15, 5, 9 etc.

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Prime Numbers: Those numbers, which are divisible only
by themselves and 1, are called prime numbers. In other
words, a number, which has only two factors 1 and itself,
is called a prime number. e.g. 2, 3, 5, 7, etc.
2 is the only even prime number.
There are 25 prime numbers upto 100. These are 2, 3, 5, 7,
11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73,
79, 83, 89 & 97. These should be learnt by heart.
Co-Prime Numbers: When two numbers have their HCF
as 1 they are considered to be prime to each other. e.g. 5
and 21 are prime to each other. In other words, 5 and 21
are co-prime numbers.
Remember: A number Z can be written as the product of
two factors, which are co-prime to each other, in 2Y – 1
ways, where Y is the number of different prime factors of
Z.
E.g. Z = 120 = 23 31 51. Now here the number of
different prime factors of 120 is 3 (2, 3 & 5).
So the value of Y is 3. 120 can be written as the product
of two numbers which are co-prime to each other as 23 -
1
. These are 15  8, 24  5, 40  3, 120  1

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To Check whether a number is prime, e.g. 113, we do not
need to check all the factors below 113. The square of 10
is 100 and that of 11 is 121. Therefore, test if any of the
prime numbers less than 11 is a factor of 113. And 2, 3, 5,
7, 11 are prime numbers which are not factors of 113 and
hence 113 is a prime number.
Composite Number: A number, which has factors other
than itself and 1, is called a composite number. e.g. 9,
14, 25....or the number which has more than two factors
are called composite number. So, 4 is the first composite
number.
1 is neither a composite number nor a prime number.
Consecutive Numbers: Numbers arranged in increasing
order and differing by 1 is called consecutive numbers.
e.g. 4, 5, 6, 7
Real Numbers: The above sets of natural numbers,
integers, whole numbers, rational numbers and irrational
numbers constitute the set of real numbers. Points can
represent every real number on a number line.
Perfect Numbers: If the sum of all the factors of a
number excluding the number itself happens to be equal
to the number, then the number is called as perfect
number. 6 is the first perfect number. The factors of 6

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are 1, 2, 3 & 6. Leaving 6 the sum of other factors of 6 are
equal to 6. The next three perfect numbers after 6 are :
28, 496 and 8128.
Fibonacci Numbers: The numbers, which follow the
following series are known as Fibonacci numbers. E.g.
1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21....
The series is obtained by adding the sum of the
preceding two numbers. In general for a Fibonacci
number X, Xi+2 = Xi+1 + Xi.
For a Fibonacci series,
The sum of the first n terms is Xn+2 - X2
Numbers – Integers
Natural Numbers:
As we know, we use 1, 2, 3, 4,... when we begin to count.
They come naturally when we start counting. Hence, the
counting numbers are called as Natural numbers.
Predecessor and successor
Given any natural number, you can add 1 to that number
and get the next number i.e. you get its successor. The
successor of 20 is 20 + 1 = 21, that of 17 is 17 + 1= 18
and so on. The number 13 comes before 14, we say that
the predecessor of 14 is 14 – 1 = 13, the predecessor of

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28 is 28 – 1 = 27, and so on. Does 1 have both a
successor and a predecessor? Number 1 has no
predecessor in natural numbers.
Whole Numbers:
To the collection of natural numbers we add zero as the
predecessor for 1. The natural numbers along with zero
form the collection of whole numbers.
Examples:
1. Write the next three natural numbers after 30099.
Ans: 30100, 30101, 30102
2. Write the three whole numbers occurring just
before 2002.
Ans: 2001, 2000, 1999
3. Which is the smallest positive whole number?
Ans: 1
4. How many natural numbers are there between 7
and 36?
Ans: 28
5. Write the successor of:
(a) 2340399 (b) 123409 (c) 873009 (d) 1345677

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Ans: (a) 2340400 (b) 123410 (c) 873010 (d) 1345678
6. Write the predecessor of:
(a) 80 (b) 3000 (c) 209909 (d) 3467000
Ans: (a) 79 (b) 2999 (c) 209908 (d) 3466999
7. Which of the following statements are true (T) and
which are false (F)?
(a) Zero is the smallest whole number.
(b) 350 is the predecessor of 349.
(c) One is the smallest whole number.
(d) 700 is the successor of 699.
(e) All whole numbers are natural numbers
(f) All natural numbers are whole numbers
(g) The predecessor of a three digit number is
always a two digit number.
(h) 0 is the smallest natural number
(i) The natural number 1 has no predecessor in
natural numbers.
(j) 0 is a natural number.
(k) The number 41 lies between 39 and 40.

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 (l) 899 is predecessor of 900.
(m) The successor of a two digit number is never a
two digit number.
Ans: (a) T (b) F (c) F (d) T (e) F
(f) T (g) F (h) F (i) T (j) F
(k) F (l) T (m) F
Integers
If we put the whole numbers and the negative numbers
together, the new collection of numbers will look like 0, 1,
2, 3, 4, 5,..., –1, – 2, – 3,–4, –5, ... and this collection of
numbers is known as Integers. In this collection, 1, 2, 3,...
are said to be positive integers and – 1, – 2, – 3,.... are
said to be negative integers.
MULTIPLICATION OF INTEGERS
Multiplication of a Positive and a Negative Integer
We thus find that while multiplying a positive integer and a
negative integer, we multiply them as whole numbers and
put a minus sign (–) before the product. We thus get a
negative integer. For example (-13) x 5 = - 65 and so on…..
In general, for any two positive integers a and b we can
say a × (– b) = (– a) × b = – (a × b)

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Multiplication of two Negative Integers
We can say that the product of two negative integers is a
positive integer. We multiply the two negative integers as
whole numbers and put the positive sign before the product.
Thus, we have (–8) × (–15) = + 120 = 120. Similarly (–16)
× (– 5) = + 80 = 80. In general, for any two positive
integers a and b, (– a) × (– b) = a × b
Product of three or more Negative Integers
We observed that the product of two negative integers is
a positive integer. What will be the product of three
negative integers? Four negative integers?
Let us observe the following examples:
(a) (– 7) × (–2) = 14
(b) (– 7) × (–1) × (–5) = [(– 7) × (–1)] × (–5) = 7 × (–5) = –
35
(c) (– 5) × (–6) × (–1) × (–4) = [(– 5) × (–6) × (–1)] × (–4)
= (–30) × (–4) = 120
(d) (–1) × [(–2) × (–6) × (–5) × (–3)] = (–1) × 180 = –180
From the above products we observe that
(a) The product of two negative integers is a positive
integer;

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(b) The product of three negative integers is a negative
integer.
(c) Product of four negative integers is a positive integer.
We find that if the number of negative integers in a product
is even, then the product is a positive integer; if the number
of negative integers in a product is odd, then the product is
a negative integer.
Operations on Odd & Even Numbers
 Addition or subtraction of any two odd numbers
will always result in an even number or zero.
For example: 1 + 3 = 4; 5 - 3 = 2.
 Addition or subtraction of any two even numbers
will always result in an even number or zero.
For example: 2 + 4 = 6; 12 - 4 = 8.
 Addition or subtraction of an odd number from an
even number will result in an odd number.
For example: 4 + 3 = 7; 10 - 3 = 7.
 Addition or subtraction of an even number from an
odd number will result in an odd number.
For example: 0. 3 + 4 = 7; 5 - 2 = 3.

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 Multiplication of two odd numbers will result in an
odd number. For example: 3  3 = 9.
 Multiplication of two even numbers will result in an
even number. For example: 2  4 = 8.
 Multiplication of an odd number by an even
number or vice versa will result in an even number.
For example: 3  2 = 6.
 An odd number is raised to an odd or an even
power is always odd.
 An even number is raised to an odd or an even
power is always even.
 The standard form of writing a number is m  10n
where m lies between 1 and 10 and n is an integer.
e.g. 0.89713  8.9713/101. 8.9713  10-1.
 If n is odd. n(n2 – 1) is divisible by 24. Take n = 5 
5(52 – 1) = 120, which is divisible by 24.
 If n is odd prime number except 3, then n2 – 1 is
divisible by 24.
 If n is odd. 2n + 1 is divisible by 3.
 If n is even. 2n – 1 is divisible by 3.
 If n is odd. 22n + 1 is divisible by 5.

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  If n is even. 22n – 1 is divisible by 5.
 If n is odd. 52n + 1 is divisible by 13.
 If n is even. 52n – 1 is divisible by 13
Important Results on Numbers
1. The sum of 5 successive whole numbers is always
divisible by 5.
2. The product of 3 consecutive natural numbers is
divisible by 6.
3. The product of 3 consecutive natural numbers, the
first of which is an even number is divisible by 24.
4. The sum of a two-digit number and a number
formed by reversing its digits is divisible by 11. E.g.
28 + 82 = 110, which is divisible by 11. At the same
time, the difference between those numbers will be
divisible by 9. e.g. 82 – 28 = 54, which is divisible
by 9.
n(n  1)
5. n = , n is the sum of first n natural
2
numbers.
n(n  1)(2n  1)
6. n2 = , n2 is the sum of first n perfect
6
squares.

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 E.q. What is the value of P, where P = 12 + 22 +
….102?
You have to find the sum of first 10 perfect
squares.
The above mentioned formula is to be applied.
10  11  21
102 =  385.
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n 2 (n  1) 2
7. n = = (n)2, n3 is the sum of first n
4
perfect cubes.
8. xn + yn = (x + y) (xn-1 - xn-2.y + xn-3.y2 - ... +yn-1) when n is
odd. Therefore, when n is odd, xn + ynis divisible by x
+ y. e.g. 33 + 23 = 35 and is divisible by 5.
9. xn - yn = (x + y) (xn-1 - xn-2.y + ... yn-1) when n is even.
Therefore, when n is even, xn - ynis divisible by x + y.
e.g 72 - 32 = 40, which is divisible by 10.
10. xn - yn = (x - y) (xn-1 + xn-2.y + .... + yn-1) for both odd
and even n. Therefore, xn - yn is divisible by x - y.
e.g. 94 - 24 = 6545 which is divisible by 7.
11. The number of divisors of a composite number: If D
is a composite number in the form D = ap × bq × cr,

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where a, b, c are primes, then the no. of divisors of
D, represented by n is given by
n = (p+1)(q+1)(r +1).
e.g. What is the total number of factors of 200?
As calculated above 200 can be written as 23 × 52.
The values of p & q in this case are 3 & 2
respectively.
Thus the total number of factors are (3 + 1) × (2 +
1) = 12.
So 200 has 12 factors in total.
The factors are 1 × 200, 2 × 100, 4 × 50, 5 × 40, 8 ×
25, 10 × 20.
The sum of all those divisors of Sn is given by the
following formula
(a p 1  1)(bq 1  1)(c r 1  1)
Sn 
(a  1)(b  1)(c  1)
e.g. What is the sum of all the factors of 200?
(231  1)(521  1)
As per the above formula Sn 
(2  1)(5  1)
15  124
 15 × 31 = 465.
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Solved Examples
Ex. 1 Find the greatest 5-digit number, which is a
multiple of 23.
To solve such a question, take the greatest five-
digit number, which is 99999.
Divide this number by 23 and get the remainder as
18. Simply because the remainder is 18 if you
subtract 18 from the number the remaining number
will be a multiple of 23. So the greatest such
number will be 99999 – 18 = 99981.
Ex. 2 Find the smallest 7-digit number, which is a
multiple of 19.
To solve such question take the smallest seven-
digit number, which is 1000000.
Divide this number by 19 and get the remainder as
11.
Here if you subtract 11 from the number, no doubt
you will get a multiple of 19. But because you have
already taken the smallest seven-digit number, if
you subtract anything from it you will get a six-digit
number. Think it otherwise, that instead of
subtracting you should add something.

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 Now, what should be added to 11(the remainder)
so that it becomes a multiple of 19, i.e. 19 – 11 =
8. 8 should be added to the number, i.e. 1000000
+ 8 = 1000008 is the answer.
Ex. 3 In a party there are 25 persons are present. If each
of them shakes hand with all the other persons. In
total how many handshakes will take place?
This question you can solve with the help of
combinations; otherwise, you can apply other logic.
Out of 25 persons, the first person will shake hand
with 24 persons.
The second person will shake hand with 23
persons (because he has already shaken hand with
the first person). The third person with 22 persons
and so on. The second last person shakes hand
with only one person. And last will shake hand with
none (because he has already shaken hand with all
persons). Net you have to add all the natural
numbers from 1 to 24, i.e. 24. 24 = 24  25/2 =
300 handshakes.

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Ex. 4 Find the prime factors of 1500.
The prime factor of 1500 are 2  2  3  5  5  5.
So the answer is 22 3153. So it has three
different prime factors, i.e. 2, 3 & 5.
Numbers - Divisibility Rules
1. By 2 - A number is divisible by 2 when its unit’s
place is 0 or divisible by 2., e.g. 120, 138.
2. By 3 - 19272 is divisible by 3 when the sum of the
digits of 19272 = 21 is divisible by 3.
3. By 4 - A number is divisible by 4 when the last two
digits of the number are 0s or are divisible by 4. As
100 is divisible by 4, it is sufficient if the divisibility
test is restricted to the last two digits. e.g. 145896,
128, 18400
4. By 5 - A number is divisible by 5 if its unit’s digit is
5 or 0., e.g. 895, 100
5. By 6 - A number is divisible by 6 if it is divisible by
both 2 and by 3 i.e. the number should be an even
number and the sum of its digits should be
divisible by 3.
6. By 8 - A number is divisible by 8 if the last three
digits of the number are 0s or are divisible by 8. As

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 1000 is divisible by 8, it is sufficient if the
divisibility test is restricted to the last three digits,
e.g. 135128, 45000
7. By 9 - A number is divisible by 9 if the sum of its
digits is divisible by 9. e.g. 810, 92754
8. By 11 - A number is divisible by 11 if the difference
between the sum of the digits at odd places and
the sum of the digits at even places of the number
is either 0 or a multiple of 11.
e.g. 121, 65967. In the first case 1+1 - 2 = 0. In the
second case 6+9+7 = 22 and 5+6 = 11 and the
difference is 11. Therefore, both these numbers are
divisible by 11.
9. By 12 - A number is divisible by 12 if it is divisible
by both 3 and by 4. i.e., the sum of the digits
should be divisible by 3 and the last two digits
should be divisible by 4. e.g. 144, 8136
10. By 15 – A number is divisible by 15 if it is divisible
by both 5 and 3.
11. By 25 – 2358975 is divisible by 25 if the last two
digits of 2358975 are divisible by 25 or if the last
two digits are 0s.

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12. By 75 - A number is divisible by 75 if it is divisible
by both 3 and 25 i.e. the sum of the digits should
be divisible by 3 and the last two digits should be
divisible by 25.
13. By 125 - A number is divisible by 125 if its last
three right-hand digits are divisible by 125 or if the
last three digits are 0s. e.g. 1254375, 12000
14. The number of factors of a number can be found
by knowing how many prime factors it has.
The number of factors of a number, say 48, can be
found by knowing how many prime factors it has.
48 has four 2s and one 3.
(24  31)
So 48 has  (4 + 1) (1 + 1) = 10.
Factors of 48 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24 & 48.
If J = px × qy × rz, (p, q & r are prime) then J has
(x + 1)(y +1)(z +1) factors.
15. By 7 – A number is divisible by 7, if the number of
tens added to five times the number of units is
divisible by 7. e.g. if you check 259, number of tens
= 25 and 5 times units digit 5  9 = 45 now 25 + 45

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 = 70. As 70 is divisible by 7 so this number is
divisible by 7.
OR There is a concept of seed number, which can
be applied to check the divisibility of certain
numbers. The process is that if the sum of the
products of the digits of the number from left to
right with increasing powers of the seed number is
divisible by 7 or is zero. The seed number of 7 is –
2. e.g. 2863
2(-2)0 + 8(-2)1 + 6(-2)2 + 3(-2)3
= 2 – 16 + 24 – 24 = -14. As this is divisible by 7,
the number is divisible by 7.
16. By 13 – If the number of tens added to four times
the number of units is divisible by 13. Then the
number is divisible by 13. e.g. 4394 no. of tens =
439, number of units = 4  4 = 16
 439 + 16 = 455, which is divisible by 13, so the
number is divisible by 13
OR A number is divisible by 13, if the sum of the
digits of the number from left to right with 1, 4, 3, -
1, - 4, -3…. Successively is divisible by 13.

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 e.g. 4394  4(1) + 3(4) + 9(3) + 4(-1) = 4 + 12 + 27
– 4 = 39, which is divisible by 13. So the number is
divisible by 13.
17. By 17 – A number is divisible by 17, if the number
of tens added to twelve times the number of units
is divisible by 17.
18. By 19 – A number is divisible by 19, if the number
of tens added to twice the number of units is
divisible by 19.
OR The seed number for 19 is 2; A number is
divisible by 19 if the sum of the product of the
digits of the number from left to right with
increasing powers of the seed number is divisible
by 19. e.g. 1083  1(2)0 + 0(2)1 + 8(2)2 + 3(2)3
= 1 + 0 + 32 +24 = 57, which is divisible by 19, so
the number is divisible by 19.
19. By 29 – A number is divisible by 29, if the number
of tens added to thrice the number of units is
divisible by 29.

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