Divisor 20899

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

The "MiddleAardvark Test" for Divisibility by 20899

To determine if any number is divisible by 20899, apply the "MiddleAardvark Test":

  1. If your number ("X") has 9 digits or more, separate the last (smallest) 8 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 9 digits, L = 0 and therefore R = X.
  2. Multiply L by 1715 and subtract this from R.
  3. Take that result and cross off its final digit (units). Take this new number and add 2090 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 20899. That is, your original number is divisible by 20899 if (and only if) Y is. Now that it's much smaller, with basic knowledge of your 20899-times tables, it should be easy to visually see if Y is divisible by 20899. If the Y is still much larger than 20899, the above process can be repeated until it does reduce to within small multiples of 20899.

Easy!