Digit Deduction

MathDash
Last updated 2025-07-08

1 Writing Numbers With Letters

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You will often see puzzles write

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𝑎𝑏 or 𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑑

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instead of drawing the actual digits. The curved bar means “these letters stand for a

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bunch of digits forming one whole number.” For example, if 𝑎 = 3 and 𝑏 = 7 then 𝑎𝑏 = 37.
Why bother with that funny bar? Because it lets us discuss the shape of numbers before

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we know their exact digits.

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Example 1.1

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𝑋𝑌 is a two–digit number. If 𝑋 = 0 can 𝑋𝑌 still be two–digit?

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Solution

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A two–digit number cannot start with 0 (“05” is really just 5), so 𝑋 may only be 1, 2, 3, . . . , 9.

Tiny detail, big importance! When you see 𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑑 , always remember: 𝑎 ≠ 0 unless some-

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one clearly says otherwise.

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2 Place–Value Algebra: Turning Digits Into Expressions

Why translate at all?

Digit Deduction clues often talk about “twice the tens digit equals the ones digit” or “the
sum of the first and last digits is 7.” To use such clues we must convert the pretty sentence
into algebra, the language of letters and symbols that lets us solve.

Let’s develop the translation rule slowly.

Two digits first

Take a two–digit number 𝑎𝑏. What does it equal in ordinary arithmetic symbols?

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𝑎𝑏 = ( value of the tens digit) + ( value of the ones digit).

The tens digit is 𝑎 tens, that’s 10𝑎. The ones digit is 𝑏 ones, that’s 𝑏. So

𝑎𝑏 = 10𝑎 + 𝑏.

Example 2.1
Check that the formula works when 𝑎 = 4 and 𝑏 = 7.

Solution

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Plug in: 10 ( 4) + 7 = 40 + 7 = 47, which is exactly 47.

Three digits

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Now a three–digit number 𝑎𝑏𝑐.

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𝑎𝑏𝑐 = 100𝑎 + 10𝑏 + 𝑐.

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Hundreds −→ 100𝑎, tens −→ 10𝑏, ones −→ 𝑐. Same ladder idea, just a new rung.

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Four digits
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You can guess the pattern:

𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑑 = 1000𝑎 + 100𝑏 + 10𝑐 + 𝑑.

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General rule
If you ever forget, expand gently from left to right:
𝑎 𝑏 𝑐 𝑑

1000 100 10 1

Multiply each digit by the arrow label and add them up.

3 Why This Matters: A First Mini Puzzle

Example 3.1
A two–digit number is 6 times its tens digit. Find the number.

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Solution
Let the number be 𝑎𝑏.

Step 1 (write algebra): 𝑎𝑏 = 10𝑎 + 𝑏.

Step 2 (translate the clue): “The number is 6 times its tens digit” ⇒ 10𝑎 + 𝑏 = 6𝑎.

Step 3 (solve slowly):

10𝑎 + 𝑏 = 6𝑎 =⇒ 10𝑎 − 6𝑎 = −𝑏 =⇒ 4𝑎 = −𝑏.

But 𝑎 and 𝑏 are digits between 0 and 9, and 4𝑎 is never negative. So we must have 𝑏 = 0
and 4𝑎 = 0 ⇒ 𝑎 = 0. Uh-oh! That gives 𝑎𝑏 = 00, not a two–digit number. What went
wrong? Our quick rearrangement flipped the sign. Let’s try again more carefully:

s h 10𝑎 + 𝑏 = 6𝑎 =⇒ 10𝑎 − 6𝑎 = −𝑏 =⇒ 4𝑎 = −𝑏.

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The only way a positive number equals a negative number is if both sides are zero. There-

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fore 4𝑎 = 0 and −𝑏 = 0 ⇒ 𝑎 = 0, 𝑏 = 0 (no real two–digit number). Conclusion: no
solution, hence the puzzle statement must have had a typo somewhere!

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Even mistakes teach us: writing 𝑎𝑏 = 10𝑎 + 𝑏 made the contradiction obvious.

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4 Divisibility Tests You Should Know By Heart

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Many digit puzzles say things like “the number is divisible by 3” or “it ends in 0 and is
divisible by 9.” To take advantage we need quick runway–length tests, not long–division.

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Divisible by 2

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Theme 4.1 (Even–Last–Digit Rule)

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A whole number is divisible by 2 iff its ones digit is 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8.

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Why is this true? Because each place value above the ones is already a multiple of 10,
and 10 itself is 2 × 5. Therefore the “evenness” of the entire number sits completely in
the ones digit.

Divisible by 5
Same logic:

Theme 4.2 (Ends in 0 or 5)

Divisible by 5 ⇐⇒ ones digit is 0 or 5.

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Divisible by 10
If a number ends in 0 it has a full extra factor of 10. So “ends in 0” ⇐⇒ “divisible by 10”.

Divisible by 3 and by 9

Theme 4.3 (Sum–of–Digits Test)

Add all the digits. If the sum is divisible by 3 (respectively by 9) then the original
number is divisible by 3 (respectively by 9).

Why on earth does that work? Time for a slower proof with a tiny three–digit example
𝑎𝑏𝑐.

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𝑎𝑏𝑐 = 100𝑎 + 10𝑏 + 𝑐 = ( 99 + 1)𝑎 + ( 9 + 1)𝑏 + 𝑐 = 99𝑎 + 9𝑏 + (𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐).

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The pieces 99𝑎 and 9𝑏 are clearly divisible by 9 (and by 3). Thus the divisibility of 𝑎𝑏𝑐 by

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9 or 3 depends only on the smaller piece 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐. Neat!

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5 A Friendly Peek at “Clock” Arithmetic (Modular

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Arithmetic)

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You will sometimes hear solvers say things like “work mod 3” or “mod 9”. That phrase
simply means “look only at the remainders when dividing by 3 (or 9).” It is exactly how

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a clock ignores everything but the hour from 1 to 12.

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Tiny warm-up
17 divided by 5 leaves remainder 2.

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So in clock language we write 17 ≡ 2 ( mod 5) (read as “17 is congruent to 2 modulo 5”).

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Why bother?
Returning to the digit–sum trick, we really proved that

𝑎𝑏𝑐 ≡ 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 ( mod 9).

That short line lets us replace a huge number by a small sum of digits whenever we only
care about remainders mod 9. Handy!

Two basic facts

• If 𝑥 ≡ 𝑟 ( mod 𝑚) and 𝑦 ≡ 𝑠 ( mod 𝑚) , then 𝑥 + 𝑦 ≡ 𝑟 + 𝑠 ( mod 𝑚) and 𝑥 𝑦 ≡ 𝑟𝑠
( mod 𝑚) . (Add or multiply first, then take the remainder—either order works.)
• Remainders can themselves be trimmed. Saying 𝑟 + 𝑠 means the value 𝑟 + 𝑠, which
may again be reduced mod 𝑚 if it is ≥ 𝑚.
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Example 5.1
Find the remainder of 2 423 when divided by 9 without long division.

Solution
Add the digits: 2 + 4 + 2 + 3 = 11. Then add again: 1 + 1 = 2. So 2 423 ≡ 2 ( mod 9). The
remainder is 2.

Keep practicing these small moves—they power large puzzles!

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6 Basic Factorization Skills

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Clues sometimes mention that “the product of the digits is 12” or “the number is divisible

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by 6 and 5”. Those words hide boring but vital factor work.

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Definition 6.1 (Factor)
A factor of a whole number 𝑛 is a whole number that divides 𝑛 with no remainder.

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Prime numbers

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Definition 6.2 (Prime)

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A whole number bigger than 1 is prime if its only factors are 1 and itself.

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Famous primes: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, . . . Non-primes are called composite.

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Prime factorization

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Every whole number breaks apart uniquely into a product of prime factors. For example

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60 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5.

Write that in exponent style: 60 = 22 · 3 · 5.

Why do we care in digit puzzles?

• If the whole number is divisible by 6, then it is divisible by both 2 and 3 (because
6 = 2 × 3). That gives us two separate simple tests at once.

• If the product of the digits is 12, we can list factor pairs ( 1, 12), ( 2, 6), ( 3, 4) to see
which digits are even possible.

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Example 6.3
List all unordered pairs of digits whose product is 12.

Solution
Factor pairs of 12 are 1 · 12 (not a pair of single digits—12 is two digits!), 2 · 6, and 3 · 4.
So the only digit pairs are {2, 6} and {3, 4}.

7 Last–Digit Logic
Often a clue zooms in on the ones place: “the last digit is odd,” “the square ends in 5,” or
“the last digit of a prime bigger than 5 cannot be even.”

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Why only certain endings?

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Look at multiples of 4: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, . . . Their ones digits follow a cycle 4, 8, 2, 6, 0.
That is because 10 ≡ 2 ( mod 4) , and each new multiple adds another 2 to the remainder

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pattern.

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Once you know a cycle you can quickly eliminate impossible digits.

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Primes and the last digit

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Except for the two small primes 2 and 5, every prime number must end in 1, 3, 7, or 9.

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Reason:

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• Ending in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 would make it even (divisible by 2).

• Ending in 5 would make it divisible by 5.

That leaves 1, 3, 7, 9 as the only possible units digits for larger primes.

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8 Systematic Enumeration: The Art of Listing Without
Missing
Up to now we learned how to translate clues into algebra or remainders, and how to
test divisibility or factor hints quickly. The last beginner tool is learning to organize the
remaining possibilities.

Rule of thumb
Always change a fuzzy phrase like “some digits are different” into an explicit ordered list
and cross out impossibles one by one.

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Method 1: Place-by-Place Scan

Example 8.1
How many two–digit multiples of 3 have distinct digits?

Solution
Step A (list possible tens digits): 1 through 9.

Step B (for each tens digit 𝑡 , find ones digits 𝑢 such that 𝑡 + 𝑢 is a multiple of 3).

Make a quick table:

𝑡 Allowed 𝑢 Remove if 𝑢 = 𝑡

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1 2, 5, 8 𝑢≠1

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2 1, 4, 7

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3 0, 3, 6, 9 𝑢≠3
.. .. ..

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. . .

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Continue until 𝑡 = 9. Count carefully. Patience is the secret: write every pair before

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adding.

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Method 2: Ascending or Descending Digit Requirement

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If a puzzle says “digits are in ascending order,” that hugely cuts cases: once you pick the

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first digit the next must be bigger, and so on.

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Example 8.2
List all three–digit numbers with ascending digits.

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Solution

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Choose any three different digits 𝑎 < 𝑏 < 𝑐 from {0, 1, 2, . . . ,
9} but 𝑎 ≠ 0 (remember the
leading–zero rule). The number is exactly 𝑎𝑏𝑐. There are 93 = 84 possibilities.

Notice how the ascending condition meant we did not have to worry about permuting
the digits: their order is already fixed.

Method 3: Largest or Smallest Number

If told to build “the largest possible number” out of allowed digits, you usually stuff the
biggest legal digit in the leftmost place, then the next biggest, and so on. Opposite rule
for “smallest.”

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Example 8.3
Make the largest four–digit even number using digits 1, 3, 4, 6 each at most once.

Solution
Because the number must be even, its ones digit must be 4 or 6. To maximize, try to push
the larger digits to the leftmost positions, but the very last digit must be one of the two
even ones.

Case 1: put 6 in the ones place (so 6). Leftover digits 1, 3, 4 sorted big–to–small give
4, 3, 1. Number: 4 3 1 6.

Case 2: put 4 in the ones place. Leftover digits 1, 3, 6 sorted give 6, 3, 1. Number: 6 3 1 4.

Compare: 6,314 is larger than 4,316. So the answer is 6314 .

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9 Putting the Toolbox Together: Two Warm-Up Practice

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Problems

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Example 9.1

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Find all three–digit numbers 𝑎𝑏𝑐 that satisfy (i) 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 = 6, (ii) 𝑐 is even, (iii) digits

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are distinct.

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Solution

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Step 1: List partitions of 6 into three distinct digits between 0 and 9, remembering 𝑎 ≠ 0.

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Possible unordered sets: {0, 1, 5}, {0, 2, 4}, {1, 2, 3}.

Step 2: For each set, place digits with 𝑎 ≠ 0 and 𝑐 even.

• {0, 1, 5}: even digits are 0 only. Since 𝑐 must be even, 𝑐 = 0. Then 𝑎, 𝑏 are 1 and 5

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in some order, but 𝑎 can’t be 0, fine. Two numbers: 150 and 510.

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• {0, 2, 4}: even digits 0, 2, 4. Try 𝑐 = 0 gives 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 6 with 𝑎 ≠ 0, possibilities

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(𝑎, 𝑏) = ( 2, 4) or ( 4, 2) ⇒ 240, 420. Try 𝑐 = 2 gives 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 4 with digits 0, 4 in some
order, 𝑎 cannot be 0 so only (𝑎, 𝑏) = ( 4, 0) ⇒ 402. Try 𝑐 = 4 gives 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 2 with
digits 0, 2, only (𝑎, 𝑏) = ( 2, 0) ⇒ 204.

• {1, 2, 3}: even digit is 2 only, so 𝑐 = 2, then 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 4 with digits 1, 3 in some order.
Two choices: 132 and 312.

Answer: 150, 510, 240, 420, 402, 204, 132, 312. Eight numbers total.

Example 9.2
The number 𝑎𝑏 is divisible by 5 and by 3, and 𝑎 ≠ 𝑏. List all possibilities.

Solution

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Divisible by 5 ⇒ 𝑏 = 0 or 5.

Divisible by 3 ⇒ 𝑎 + 𝑏 is a multiple of 3.

Case 𝑏 = 0: need 𝑎 + 0 multiple of 3, so 𝑎 = 3, 6, 9. Numbers: 30, 60, 90.

Case 𝑏 = 5: need 𝑎 + 5 multiple of 3, so 𝑎 ≡ 1 ( mod 3) , i.e. 𝑎 = 1, 4, 7. Numbers: 15, 45, 75.

Remove any with 𝑎 = 𝑏 (none here).

Answer: 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90.

10 Summary So Far
Let’s breathe and recap the fundamentals we built up, one slow brick at a time:

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• Digits 0–9, place value ladder (ones, tens, hundreds, . . . ).

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• Bar notation 𝑎𝑏 and the conversion 𝑎𝑏 = 10𝑎 + 𝑏, 𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑑 = 1000𝑎 + 100𝑏 + 10𝑐 + 𝑑 ,
etc.

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• Divisibility shortcuts:

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– ends in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 ⇐⇒ multiple of 2,

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– ends in 0 or 5 ⇐⇒ multiple of 5,

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– digit-sum test for 3 and 9.

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• “Clock” (modular) arithmetic to keep only remainders.

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• Basic factor talk: primes, prime factorization, linking composite divisibility to prime

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tests.

• Last-digit logic and cycles, especially for primes and powers.

• Systematic enumeration: place-by-place scan, ascending/descending constraints,

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and making largest/smallest numbers.

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If each bullet now feels friendly, you are well-equipped to tackle full Digit Deduction puz-

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zles. Keep practicing tiny drills: rewrite numbers with the bar formula, run divisibility
tests in your head, or list cases neatly on scratch paper. Repetition stores the tools so
deeply that you can grab them in a heartbeat when a larger puzzle arrives.

Looking Ahead
Our entire journey today was only the introduction. Real contest problems weave these
ideas together into longer chains of clues. In a future hand-out we will attack such chains
step by step, but those later victories will stand on the solid foundation you now own.

Well done and happy puzzling!