Divisor 9901
- Prime Number:
- Yes!
- Divisibility test:
- The "Nathan Clark Test"
- Test Discovered by:
- Matt Parker
- Date:
- 11/11/2024
The "Nathan Clark Test" for Divisibility by 9901
To determine if any number is divisible by 9901, apply the "Nathan Clark Test":
- If your number ("X") has 7 digits or more, separate the last (smallest) 6 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 7 digits, L = 0 and therefore R = X.
- Multiply L by 1 and subtract this from R.
- Take that result and cross off its final digit (units). Take this new number and subtract 990 times the digit you just crossed off. Call this final result "Y".
- Y will be much smaller than X, but we have preserved divisibility by 9901. That is, your original number is divisible by 9901 if (and only if) Y is. Now that it's much smaller, with basic knowledge of your 9901-times tables, it should be easy to visually see if Y is divisible by 9901. If the Y is still much larger than 9901, the above process can be repeated until it does reduce to within small multiples of 9901.
Easy!