Numbers whose Cyclic Permutations of 3-Digit Multiples are Multiples
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Theorem
Let $n$ be a two-digit positive integer with the following property:
- Then any cyclic permutation of the digits of $m$ is also a multiple of $n$.
Then $n$ is either $27$ or $37$.
Proof
Let $m$ be a multiple of $n$ with $3$ digits.
Then we have:
\(\ds n \times c\) | \(=\) | \(\ds a_2 \times 10^2 + a_1 \times 10^1 + a_0\) |
Let us now cyclically permute the digits of $m$ by multiplying by $10$.
Then we have:
\(\ds 10 \times n \times c\) | \(=\) | \(\ds 10 \times \paren {a_2 \times 10^2 + a_1 \times 10^1 + a_0}\) | multiply original number by $10$ | |||||||||||
\(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds a_2 \times 10^3 + a_1 \times 10^2 + a_0 \times 10^1\) | ||||||||||||
\(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds a_1 \times 10^2 + a_0 \times 10^1 + a_2 \times 10^0\) | $10^3$ and $10^0 \equiv 1 \pmod {n}$ |
From the above, we see that:
- $n$ is a divisor of a cyclic permutation of $m$
- $n \divides \paren {10^3 - 1 }$
We now note that:
- $10^3 - 1 = 37 \times 27 = 37 \times 3^3$
Upon inspection, we see that the only $2$-digit factors are $27$ and $37$.
$\blacksquare$
Also see
Sources
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $27$
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $27$