Divisor 20231

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

The "Steven Gill Test" for Divisibility by 20231

To determine if any number is divisible by 20231, apply the "Steven Gill Test":

  1. If your number ("X") has 6 digits or more, separate the last (smallest) 5 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 6 digits, L = 0 and therefore R = X.
  2. Multiply L by 1155 and subtract this from R.
  3. Take that result and cross off its final digit (units). Take this new number and subtract 2023 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 20231. That is, your original number is divisible by 20231 if (and only if) Y is. Now that it's much smaller, with basic knowledge of your 20231-times tables, it should be easy to visually see if Y is divisible by 20231. If the Y is still much larger than 20231, the above process can be repeated until it does reduce to within small multiples of 20231.

Easy!