Divisor 5171

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

The "Steve Test" for Divisibility by 5171

To determine if any number is divisible by 5171, apply the "Steve 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 342 and subtract this from R.
  3. Take that result and cross off its final digit (units). Take this new number and subtract 517 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 5171. That is, your original number is divisible by 5171 if (and only if) Y is. Now that it's much smaller, with basic knowledge of your 5171-times tables, it should be easy to visually see if Y is divisible by 5171. If the Y is still much larger than 5171, the above process can be repeated until it does reduce to within small multiples of 5171.

Easy!