Divisor 9859

Prime Number:
Yes!
Divisibility test:
The "Marty Stainbrook Test"
Test Discovered by:
Matt Parker
Date:
11/11/2024

The "Marty Stainbrook Test" for Divisibility by 9859

To determine if any number is divisible by 9859, apply the "Marty Stainbrook Test":

  1. If your number ("X") has 5 digits or more, separate the last (smallest) 4 digits from the rest. This makes two smaller numbers, call them Left and Right (note: don't add in trailing zeros to L). If there are fewer than 5 digits, L = 0 and therefore R = X.
  2. Multiply L by 141 and add to R.
  3. Take that result and cross off its final digit (units). Take this new number and add 986 times the digit you just crossed off. Call this final result "Y".
  4. Y will be much smaller than X, but we have preserved divisibility by 9859. That is, your original number is divisible by 9859 if (and only if) Y is. Now that it's much smaller, with basic knowledge of your 9859-times tables, it should be easy to visually see if Y is divisible by 9859. If the Y is still much larger than 9859, the above process can be repeated until it does reduce to within small multiples of 9859.

Easy!