Proving 8 Digit Number Divisible by 137 by Induction

  • Thread starter Thread starter haoku
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Induction
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
1 reply · 3K views
haoku
Messages
24
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



Given a "8 digit number" abcdabcd.That means 1st digit =5th digit, 2nd digit =6th digit etc. Also, note that the smallest possible "8 digit number" is 10001(i.e.00010001). Prove this by induction that it is divisible by 137.

Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution



I can prove this actually but not able to find it by induction. I don't know how to present and start the assumption and k+1 phase.

Thanks for helping :)
 
Physics news on Phys.org
The smallest one is given, so you start by showing that 10001 is divisible by 137.
Suppose now that for some four digit number (possibly padded by zeros from the left) A, the assumption is true, that is the number obtained by writing A twice in a row is divisible by 137. Can you write a formula for this number? Then the induction step consists of adding 1 to A and showing that the difference is divisible by 137.