CAT

CHAPTER-WISE & TOPIC-WISE SOLVED PAPERS

SECTION-3: QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE (QA)
CHAPTER-1
NUMBER SYSTEM

Topic-1
Divisibility Rules

 Revision Notes
 Given below are some basic rules of divisibility for common numbers :
  1. If the last digit of a number is 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 then that number is divisible by 2. Such as 220, 228, 174 etc.
  2. If sum of the digits of a number is divisible by 3 or 9 the number is divisible by 3 and 9.
  3. If last two digits of a number is divisible 4 or the last 2 digits of a number are zeroes then the number
is divisible by 4.
  4. If the last digit of a number is 0 or 5, then the number is divisible by 5. Such as 100, 150, 235 etc.
 5. Divisibility rule of 6, A number is divisible by 6 if it is divisible by its 2 co-prime factors which when
multiplied gives the number itself.
Here, 6 = 2 × 3. Hence, a number is divisible by 6 if it is divisible by 2 and 3. Similar rules apply for

other composite numbers.
 6. Divisibility rule of 7, we make group of three digits starting from right towards left. Then we take the
sum of all the numbers of odd placed groups and even placed groups separately. Then we take the
difference of sum of odd placed groups and sum of even placed groups. If the difference is divisible
by 7 the entire number is divisible by 7. Example: 346527659 if (346 + 659) - (527) is divisible by
7. So the number 346527659 is divisible by 7. Divisibility rule of 7, 11 and 13 is same.
 7. Divisibility rule of 8, if last three digits of a number is divisible by 8 or the last 3 digits of a number
are zeroes then the number is divisible by 8.
Hence, a general rule for numbers is that a number is divisible by 2n if the last n digits are divisible
by 2n.
 8. For divisibility rule of 11, take the sum of all odd placed digits and sum of all the even placed digits
separately. Then take their difference. If the difference is divisible by 11 then the entire number is
divisible by 11. Example: for number 36542783748 if ((3 + 5 + 2 + 8 + 7 + 8) - (6 + 4 + 7 + 3 + 4) ) is
divisible by 11 the above number is divisible by 11.
Hence, we can see a number has multiple divisibility rule. We can use according to our convenience.
  9. When a number is divisible by 3 and 4 both, then that number is divisible by 12 also. Such as, 4944 etc.
For divisibility of 13, we use osculation 4, but our osculation is not negative here. It is one-more
10. 
osculation (4).
1859 : 185 + 9 × 4 = 221 ⇒ 22 + 1 × 4 = 26
26 is divisible by 13. So, 1859 is divisible by 13.
11. For divisibility of 17, we use we use negative osculation 5, such as 9520.
9520 : 952 - 5 × 0 = 952 ⇒ 95 - 5 × 2 = 85
 85 is divisible by 17. So, 9520 is divisible by 17.
2 Oswaal CAT Revision Notes Chapterwise & Topicwise QA Solved Paper
 NUMBER SYSTEM 3

Topic-2
Properties and Simplification of Numbers

 Revision Notes
 Real Number:
All the numbers on a number line starting from -∞ to +∞ are real numbers.
• Even and Odd Numbers: The set of all natural numbers which are divisible by 2 are called even
numbers otherwise they are called odd numbers. e.g., the set of even numbers {2, 4, 6, 8, 10 ...} and the
set of odd numbers {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 ...}
• Imaginary Numbers: Number with square root of negative number is called imaginary number.
For example : 1  i . If a number is in the form of a + ib it is said to be a complex number, where a and b
are real.
For example : 3 + 2i.
These numbers are in the form of a + ib. a + ib and a - ib are complex and conjugate of each other.
p
• Rational Number : If a number is in the form of , where p, q are integers and q ≠ 0 then the number is
q

said to be a rational number. It may be terminating, pure recurring or mixed recurring. For Example
1 1 1
  5 (terminating)   3333....  .3 (pure recurring)   1666....  1  6 (mixed recurring).
2 3 6

• Irrational Number : An irrational number is any real number which cannot be expressed as a fraction
m
, where m and n are integers, with n non-zero and these are neither terminating nor recurring.
n

For example: 2  1.414 ..., 3  1.732 ...,   3.14 ... .

Integers : The integers are formed by the natural numbers including 0 (0, 1, 2, 3, ...) together with the
negatives of the non-zero natural numbers (-3, -2, -1, ...). Viewed as subset of the real numbers, they
are numbers that can be written without a fractional or decimal component, and fall within the set
{... -2, -1, 0, 1, 2 ...}.
• Fractions : A fraction is a number that represents part of a whole.
1 2 3
• Proper Fraction : Value of the fraction is less than 1. These are in the form of , , . i.e., if numerator
2 3 4

is less than denominator.

• Improper Fraction : Value of the fraction is greater than 1. These are in the form of 3 , 4 . i.e.,
2 3

if numerator is more than denominator.

• Mixed Fraction : When an integer is given before proper fraction then number is called mixed fraction.
3
Numbers of the form 2 .
4
4 Oswaal CAT Revision Notes Chapterwise & Topicwise QA Solved Paper
 NUMBER SYSTEM 5
• Whole Number : All non negative natural numbers including Zero. W ~ (0, 1, 2, 3, 4...)
• Natural Numbers : All the counting number starting from 1. N ~ (1, 2, 3, 4...)
Natural Numbers = Whole Numbers - Zero
• Prime and Composite Numbers : A number which has only two factors 1 and itself is a prime number.
Prime numbers greater than 3 are of the form 6k ± 1, or 4k ± 1 where k is a natural number. Here the
converse is not true. i.e., all those numbers in the above mentioned form are not necessarily prime
numbers.

 To find whether a given number is prime or not

• First select the least positive integer ‘n’ so that n2 > given number.
• Then find out all the prime numbers less than n and check if the given number is divisible by any of these
prime numbers.
• If the given number is not divisible by any of the prime numbers, then it will be a prime number.
• Co-Prime Numbers (Relatively Prime Numbers) : Pair of numbers that do not have any common
factor except 1 are known as Co-prime numbers.

 Some facts
• 1 is co-prime with any other number. (1, 2), (1, 3) …
• Two Consecutive numbers are always co-prime.
• A prime number is co-prime with all numbers except its multiple.
• Two prime numbers are always co-prime.
• 1 is neither prime nor composite.
• 2 is the only even prime number.

Topic-3
Factors, Factorial, Unit and Tens Digit

 Revision Notes
 Number of Factors of a Number:
If N is a composite number such that N = ap × bq × cr … where a, b, c are prime factors of N
and p, q, r ….. are positive integers, the number of factors of N is given by the expression
X = (p + 1) (q + 1)(r + 1)...

 Number of Ways of Expressing a given Number as a Product of Two Factors:

If N is a number such that N = ap × bq × cr × … where a, b, c ... are necessarily prime factors, of ‘N’ and p, q, r
….. are +ve integers, then the total number of factors is given by
‘X’ = (p + 1)(q + 1)(r + 1)….
'X'
And N can be expressed as product of two factors in ' X ' + 1 ways if ‘X’ is odd and ways if ‘X’ is even.
2 2
Note: If ‘X’ is odd then ‘N’ is definitely a perfect square i.e., any perfect square has odd number of factors
and vice-versa. So, if a number has odd number of factors it can be expressed as product of two numbers in
' X ' + 1 ways, but it can be expressed as product of two different numbers in X − 1 ways.
2 2
6 Oswaal CAT Revision Notes Chapterwise & Topicwise QA Solved Paper
 NUMBER SYSTEM 7
For example : ‘100’ has 9 factors (100 = 22 × 52)
it can be expressed as product of two numbers in 5 ways. ( 1 × 100, 2 × 50, 4 × 25, 5 × 20, 10 × 10)
But it can be expressed as product of two different numbers in 4 ways (except 10 × 10).

 Sum and Product of Factors:

N = ap × bq × cr

(a p 1  1)(b q 1  1)( c r 1  1)...

Sum =
( a  1)( b  1)( c  1)...

Product of factors = Nx/2 where x is the number of factors given by = (p + 1)(q + 1)(r + 1).

 Units Digit:
For the concept of identifying the units digit, we have to first familiarize with the concept of cyclicity.
Cyclicity of any number is about the last digit and how they appear in a certain defined manner. Let’s take
an example to clear this thing :
21 = 2, 22 = 4, 23 = 8, 24 = 16, 25 = 32
Have a close look at the above. You would see that as 2 is multiplied every-time with its own self, the last
digit changes. On the 4th multiplication, 25 has the same unit digit as 21. This shows us the cyclicity of 2 is 4,
that is after every fourth multiplication, the unit digit will be two.
The cyclicity table of all the digits is given below.

Digit Cyclicity
2, 3, 7, 8 4
1, 5, 6 1
4, 9 2

 Last 2 digits:
(i) Number ending in 1 : Last two digits of (…a1)(…b) will be [Last digit of a × b] 1
(ii) Last two digits of a number ending in 5 : If the second last digit of the base and the power, both
are odd then it will end in 75; otherwise the last two digits will be 25.
(iii) Solving last two digits for odd numbers (ending with 3, 7 and 9) : Change the odd number to
something that ends in 1. After that, we can use the property, last two digits of (…a1)(…b) will be
[Last digit of a × b] 1.

 Highest Power Dividing a Factorial

The biggest power of a prime ‘p’ that divides n! (or in other words, the power of prime ‘p’ in n!) is given by
the sum of quotients obtained by successive division of ‘n’ by p.
To find out the highest power of a composite number, always try and find out which co-primes make up that
number and find out their powers. The lower of the powers will be the power of that composite number.
Example: To find the numbers maximum power of 5 in 30!
30
Sol : 30! = 1 × 2 × 3 ………………30. Here every fifth number is a multiple of 5. So there must be =6
5

number of 5.
In addition to this 25 contribute another one 5’. So total number is 6 + 1 = 7. Note: 57 can divide 30!
8 Oswaal CAT Revision Notes Chapterwise & Topicwise QA Solved Paper

30 30
Shortcut :     2  = 6 + 1 = 7. Here [ ] Indicates greatest integer function.
 5  5 

Example: The maximum power of 10 in 30!

Here, 10 = 2 × 5, maximum power of 5 in 30! = 7
 30   30   30   30 
Maximum power of 2 in 30!      2    3    4   26
 2  2  2  2 

Topic-4
HCF & LCM

 Revision Notes
 Highest Common Factor (HCF) or Greatest Common Measure (GCM) or Greatest Common Divisor
(GCD)
The HCF of two or more than two numbers is the greatest number that divides each of them exactly. There
are two methods of finding the HCF of a given set of numbers
• Factorization Method: Express the each one of the given numbers as the product of prime factors. The
product of least powers of common prime factors gives HCF
• Division Method: Suppose we have to find the HCF of two given numbers, divide the larger by the smaller
one. Now, divide the divisor by the remainder. Repeat the process of dividing the preceding number by the
remainder last obtained till zero is obtained as remainder. The last divisor is required HCF

 Least Common Multiple (LCM):

The least number which is exactly divisible by each one of the given numbers is called their LCM
There are two methods of finding the LCM of a given set of numbers
• Factorization Method: Resolve each one of the given numbers into a product of prime factors. Then,
LCM is the product of highest powers of all the factors.
• Division Method (shortcut): Arrange the given numbers in a row in any order. Divide by a number which
divided exactly at least two of the given numbers and carry forward the numbers which are not divisible.
Repeat the above process till no two of the numbers are divisible by the same number except 1. The product
of the divisors and the undivided numbers is the required LCM of the given numbers.

 Some General rules for LCM/HCF:

HCF and LCM of Fractions:
HCF of Numerators
1. HCF =
LCM of Denominators

LCM of Numerators
2. LCM =
HCF of Denominators

 Some Important Facts :

• For two numbers, HCF × LCM = product of the two numbers and for ‘n’ numbers, product of n numbers
= (HCF)n-1 × LCM.
 NUMBER SYSTEM 9
• If a, b and c give remainders p, q and r respectively, when divided by the same number H, then H is HCF
of (a - p), (b - q), (c - r).
• If the HCF of two numbers ‘a’ and ‘b’ is H, then, the numbers (a + b) and (a - b) are also divisible by H.
• If a number N always leaves a remainder R when divided by the numbers a, b and c, then
N = [LCM (or a multiple of LCM) of a, b and c] + R.
• If a Number when divided by a, b, c leaves a remainder of x, y, z respectively and a - x = b - y = c - z = P, then
the smallest number satisfying this condition is LCM (a, b, c) - P.

Topic-5
Remainders and Base System

 Revision Notes
A number M when divided by N leaves remainder R, and quotient is Q can be represented by M = NQ +
R. Where M is dividend, N is divisor, Q is quotient and R is remainder. The above rule is what is commonly
called as the Division algorithm.
The concepts required to solve the questions of remainders are enumerated below :
• Reducing remainders
• Negative remainders
• Fermat’s little theorem
• Wilson’s rule.

 Reducing remainders:
Some basic rules are given below :
(a  b)  a b  121  122  1 2
Remainder    remainder   × remainder   e. g.,     2
 c  c c  12  Re m 12

(a  b)  a b  121  122 

Remainder    remainder   + remainder   e. g.   1 23
 c  c c  12 
Re m

(a  b)  a b  122  121  21

Remainder    remainder   - remainder   e. g.    1
 c  c c  12 
 Re m 12

 Concept of negative remainder :

1597
What is the remainder ?
8

(15 × 15 × 15 × ........ 97 times) (16  1)97 (  1)97 1

=    187
8 8 8 8

 Fermat’s Little Theorem:

M N1
Remainder 1
N

Where M and N are coprime and N is a prime number.

10 Oswaal CAT Revision Notes Chapterwise & Topicwise QA Solved Paper

 2100  396
For Example :   = remainder 1, = remainder is 1.
 101  97

Wilson’s Rule :
Remainder : ((N-1)! + 1) when divided by N has a remainder of 0.
(4! + 1) (6! + 1)
For Example : = remainder is 0, = remainder is 0.
5 7

(96! + 1)
Example: Find the remainder for :
97

Solution: (96! + 1) is divisible by 97

 Important results :
Theorem 1 : an + bn is divisible by a + b when n is ODD.
Theorem 2 : an - bn is divisible by a + b and (a - b) both when n is even, and divisible by (a - b) when n is odd.
Base System
1. All over numbers are in decimal system or Base 10 system.
We represent our base 10 numbers, such as 101 in the following way:
101 = 1 × 102 + 0 × 101 + 1 × 100.
Numbers can be in other base as well.
Converting Whole Numbers in Base 10 to Another Base
We can convert a number in base 10 to another base system B by repeatedly dividing the number by B,
the new base.
For instance, we wish to convert 10 in base 10, to a number in base 3. Divide 10 by 3 continuously till
you get a quotient which is less than 3. Then write off the quotients as shown below.
So, in base 3, Ten is represented as 101.
In base 10 we can use 10 digits, in base 9 we can use 9 digits and so-on. If base is more than 10 than 10,
11, 12, 13, ... are treated as digits and represented as alphabets like 10 as A, 11 as B ... and so on.

Topic-6
Miscellaneous

 Revision Notes
 Whenever we see data in the form of diagrams, visualize and look at options and then eliminate the
most obvious wrong option. For example, whenever we see a triangle, we should understand that the
sum of 2 sides must be greater than the third side.
 Whenever we see data in the form of a paragraph, frame a table. Look at the table and then eliminate
the data from the options.
 Whenever we see a problem in the form of symbols decipher the symbols in such a way that the
question becomes manageable then do the calculations.
NUMBER SYSTEM 11

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