Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

College of Teacher Education

Graduate Studies and Applied Research
(First Semester, AY 2019-2020 – 1st Batch)

Math 203: Number Theory

LECTURE 1

ALBERTO D. YAZON, PhD

Associate Professor I

August 17, 2019

 VISION MISSION

The Laguna State LSPU provides quality

Polytechnic University is education through
the center of sustainable responsive instruction,
development initiatives distinctive research, and
transforming lives and sustainable extension
communities. and production services
for improved quality of
life.
 QUALITY POLICY
LSPU delivers quality education through responsive
instruction, distinctive research, sustainable
extension and production services. Thus, we are
committed with continual improvement to meet
applicable requirements to provide quality,
efficient and effective services to the university
stakeholders’ highest level of satisfaction through
an excellent management system imbued with
utmost integrity, professionalism and innovation.
 COURSE POLICIES
1. Regular attendance is required to all students; three (3)
unexcused absences will mean automatically dropped from
the course.
2. Fifteen (15) minutes of tardiness is equivalent to one (1)
period of absence.
3. Wearing of the University student’ ID is required to all
students except when having field activities.
4. Active participation individually or in group is expected.
5. Student shall abide the instructor/professor’s policy on the
submission of learning outputs based on the metrics and
deadlines given.
 GRADING SYSTEM
Quizzes 30%
Requirements 40%
Attendance
Recitation/Participation/Board work
Seat work/Problem Set
Homework
Major Examination 30%
Total 100%
Course Content:
Chapter 1. The Beginnings of Number
Theory
1.1 Numbers and Number Systems
1.2 Sets
1.3 Real Numbers and their Properties
Chapter 2. Divisibility and Prime Factorization
2.1 Definition of Divisibility
2.2 Positive, Proper, and Non-trivial Divisors
2.3 Theorems on Divisibility
2.4 Divisibility Rules
2.5 Division Algorithm
2.6 Prime Factorization
2.7 Number and Sum of Positive Divisors
2.8 Some Special Numbers
Chapter 3. Greatest Common Divisor and
Least Common Multiple
3.1 Definition of GCD
3.2 Finding the GCD of 2 Integers
3.3 Definition of LCM
3.4 Finding the LCM of 2 Integers
3.5 Linear Form of the GCD

MIDTERM EXAM
Chapter 4. Linear Diophantine Equation
4.1 Definition of linear Diophantine equation
4.2 Finding Solutions of LDE
4.3 Solving Word Problems Involving LDE

Chapter 5. Congruences
5.1 Definition of Congruence
5.2 Properties of Congruence
5.3 Some Applications of Congruence
Chapter 6. Methods of Proof
6.1 Direct Proof
6.2 Indirect Proof
6.3 Mathematical Induction

FINAL EXAM
CHAPTER 1. The Beginnings
of Number Theory
1.1 Numbers and Number Systems
• The first set of numbers we meet are the
natural numbers denoted by N. These are the
ones we use to count objects: 1,2,3,4,5,....

• Next come the integers, which include 0 and

the negatives of all the natural numbers. The
letter Z stands for the integers, and comes
from the German word for number, zahlen.
• The natural numbers allow us to do addition
and multiplication, and the integers allow us to
do both of these as well as subtraction. But
when we get to division, we need the rational
numbers.

• These numbers, sometimes called fractions, are

those that can be expressed as the quotient of
two integers a and b, written a/b, where b is
not allowed to be 0 and the fraction is reduced
to lowest terms. We label the rational numbers
Q, for quotient.
• Finally, we need the real numbers, R,
which include the rational numbers and
also irrational numbers such as π and 2.
1.2 Sets
• a collection of well-defined objects
• we assume that the objects, or things, that
make up a set come from some “big” set that
is large enough to include all the objects we
might need. This big set is sometimes called
the “universe” or the “universal set” denoted
by the letter U.
• Individual objects in a set are elements, or
members, of the set. For example, each letter
is an element of the set of letters in the
English language.

• Capital letters are generally used to name

sets. The elements of the set are listed inside
a pair of braces { }.
• The order in which the elements are written
makes no difference, and each element is
listed only once. Thus, {1, 2, 3} and {3, 2, 1}
are considered to be the same set
• If S is a set, we write s ∈ S to indicate
membership in S, and we say Type equation
here.that s is an element of S.
• Thus, if A = {a, b, c}, then b ∈ A. If an element
does not belong to a set, we use the symbol ∈.
For example, 3 ∈ A.
• In mathematics, the same letter, one
lowercase and the other uppercase, cannot be
freely interchanged. For example, we have
b ∈ A but B ∈ A.
• Because we think of a set as being determined
by its members, we can specify a set S simply
by listing its elements.
• If the set is finite—for example, the first four
positive numbers—we write
S = {1, 2, 3, 4}.

• If the set is large, maybe even infinite, one

way to describe the set is to list the first few
elements followed by ellipsis. For example, we
can write the set of the natural numbers N as
N = {1,2,...}.
• Two common methods of describing sets are
the listing, or roster method, and set-builder
notation.
• For example, the set of natural numbers less
than 5 could be written as:
N = {1, 2, 3, 4} → Listing or Roster Method
N = {n | n ∈ N, n < 5} → Set-builder Notation
• In the set-builder notation N = {n | n ∈ N and
n < 5}; the comma is often a place holder for
“and.” With this notation both conditions,
n ∈ N and n < 5, must be true.
Example 1.1 Use the listing or roster method to
write the following sets:
(a) S, whose members are the first five natural
numbers

(b) Z, whose members are the integers.

Answers:
(a) S= {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
(b) Z = {0, 1, -1, 2, -2, …} or {…,-2, - 1, 0, 1, 2, …}
Example 1.2 Use set-builder notation to write the
following sets whose elements are terms of
arithmetic sequences.
(a) A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10,…}
(b) B = {1, 3, 5, 7,…}
Answers:
(a) A = {x | x is an even natural number. In symbols:
A = {x | x = 2n, n ∈ N} or {2n | n ∈ N}
(b) B = {x | x is an odd natural number. In symbols:
B = {x | x = 2n – 1, n ∈ N} or {2n – 1 | n ∈ N}
Example 1.3 Each of the following sets is
described in set-builder notation. Write each of
the sets by listing its elements
(a) C = {2k + 1 | k = 3, 4, 5}
(b) D = {x | x is an even natural number less than 8}

Answers:
(a) C = {7, 9, 11}
(b) D = {2, 4, 6}
• Two sets are equal if, and only if, they contain
exactly the same elements
• If the elements of sets P and S can be paired so
that for each element of P there is exactly one
element of S and for each element of S there is
exactly one element of P, then the two sets P and
S are in one-to-one correspondence.
• Two sets A and B are equivalent, written A ∼ B, if,
and only if, there exists a one-to-one
correspondence between the sets.
Example 1.4 Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4}, B = {5, 6, 7}
C = {8, 9, 10}, D = {6, 5, 7}
Compare the sets, using equal and equivalent.
Some Answers:
1. Each set is both equivalent to and equal to
itself.
2. A and B are not equivalent (A ~ B) and not
equal (A≠B).
• There is one special set that has no members at
all. We denote this set, called the empty set, by
the symbol ∅.

• We say that A is a subset of S if every element of

A is also an element of S (that is, if x ∈ A, then
also x ∈ S). We write this as A ⊂ S. Additionally,
we say that A is a proper subset of S if A ⊂ S and
A ≠ S.

Example 1.5 Consider the sets A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

and B = (2, 4,6}, then B ⊂ A. Also, B⊂A.
Example 1.6 If S = {all even numbers} and A = {all
multiples of 4}, then A is a subset of S.

Example 1.7 A set S is always a subset of itself. The

empty set ∅ is always a subset of any set S, and is a
proper subset of S if S is not the empty set.

Example 1.8 Write out the subsets of the set S =

{1,2,3}. Hint: There should be eight subsets.
Example 1.9 Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, B = {1, 3}, and
P = {x | x = 2n – 1, n ∈ N}
a. Identify all the subset relationships that
occur among these sets.
b. Identify all the proper subset relationships
that occur among these sets.
c. If C = {2k | k ∈ N} and D = {4k | k ∈ N}, show
that one of the sets is a subset of the other.
• The union of A and B, written A∪B, consists of
all elements of A and all elements of B. That is,
A∪B = {x|x ∈ A or x ∈ B}.

Example 1.9 If A = {1,2,3} and B = {2,4,6}, then

A∪B = {1,2,3,4,6}.
• The intersection of A and B, written A∩B, is
the set of all elements that are elements of
both A and B. That is, A∩B = {x|x ∈ A and x ∈
B}.
Example 1.10 If A = {1,2,3} and B = {2,4,6}, then
A∩B = {2}.
Example 1.11 Suppose
A = {1,2,3,4,5,6}, B = {2,4,6,8}, and C = {1,3,6}.
(a) Write out the elements in the following sets:
A∪B, A∩B, B∪C, B∩C, A∪C, and A∩C.
(b) Does the set A∪B∪C make sense?
(c) Show that A∪∅ = A and A∩∅ = ∅.
• Suppose A and B are sets. The Cartesian product
of A and B, written A×B, is defined as the set A×B
= {(a,b)|a ∈ A and b ∈ B}.

• A way to describe the Cartesian product of A and

B is the set of all ordered pairs where the first
element comes from the set A and the second
element comes from the set B.

Example 1.12 If A = {1,2,3} and B = {a,b}, then A×B =

{(1,a), (2,a), (3,a), (1,b), (2,b), (3,b)}.
Example 1.13 For A = {1,2,3} and B = {a,b}, write
out the elements of the Cartesian product B×A.
Are the sets A×B and B×A the same or different?
1.3 The Real Numbers
• Counting Numbers or Natural Numbers (N)
⁻ represented by set notation
N = {1, 2, 3, 4, …}

⁻ the set of natural numbers is also called the

set of positive integers denoted by Z+.
(Z means Zahlen, a German term for numbers)

⁻ therefore, N = Z+ = {1, 2, 3, 4, …}.

• Whole Numbers (W)
⁻ consists of the natural numbers including 0
and is represented by W = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, …}

• Negative Integers (Z-)

⁻ resulted from counting backward from 0
and is denoted by Z- = {…,-4, -3, -2, -1}
* The negative integers including the set of
whole numbers represent the set of integers
(Z), Z = {…,-4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,…}
The set of integers then, is the union of three
disjoint subsets:

✓the set of natural numbers or positive

integers
N = Z+ = {1, 2, 3, 4, …}
✓the set consisting of the number zero
{0}
✓the set of negative integers
Z- = {…,-4, -3, -2, -1}
Z = {…-4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, …}
 1 , 2, 6 , 12
• Numbers such as 2 3 7 and 5
are ratios which resulted from dividing
an integer by a nonzero integer. These are
called rational numbers.

• Rational numbers are the elements of the set

a
Q = { |a is an integer and b ≠ 0}.
b
• Any integer is a rational number, and any
rational number can be written as a decimal.
• The rational numbers can be represented
as terminating decimals. There are
rational numbers whose decimal
representations are nonterminating and
repeating. Such decimals are called
repeating decimals.
2 58
Example 1.14 Represent and as decimals.
3 11
Answers: Using division

...=5.27
2 =0.666...=0.6 58=5.272727
3 11
• There are numbers whose decimal
representations are nonterminating and
nonrepeating. Examples of which are 
and 2.
• which is the ratio of the circumference of a
circle to its diameter, is equal to 3.14159…,
while a calculator shows that 2 is equal to
1.41421…
• The numbers whose decimal
representations are nonterminating
and nonrepeating cannot be expressed
as quotient of two integers and hence
not rational numbers (irrational
numbers).

• Q’ = {x | the decimal representation of

x is nonterminating and nonrepeating}.
• The set of rational and irrational
numbers is called the set of real
numbers, R. Every real number
corresponds to a point on a number line.

Example 15. Locating the elements of the set


{ − 4, 5, 2, } on a number line, we have:
3
− 4
3 2  5

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Figure 1. The Set of Real Numbers and Its Subsets
1.2. Properties of Real Numbers
1. Closure Property. The sum or product of
two real numbers is also a real number.
That is, for all real numbers a and b, then
a + b is a real number and ab is a real
number.

a+bR forany a,bR

abR forany a,bR
2. Commutative Property. The order of the
addends does not affect the sum or
product. That is, for all real numbers a
and b,
a+b =b+a
ab=ba
3. Associative Property. The grouping of
the addends or factors does not affect the
sum or product. That is, for all real
numbers a, b, and c,
(a+b) +c = a+(b+c)
(ab)c = a(bc)
4. Existence of Identity Elements. There exist
unique elements 0 and 1 such that
▪ the number 0 preserves the identity of a
number under addition, making 0 the
identity element for addition. That is, for
any real number a,
a+0 =0+a = a
▪ the number 1 preserves the identity of a
number under multiplication, making 1
the identity element for multiplication.
That is, for any real number a,
a(1) =(1)a = a
5. Existence of Inverses.
• For any real number a, there exists the
additive inverse of a or the negative of a,
denoted by –a such that
a+(−a) =(−a) +a =0
• For any nonzero real number a, there
exists the multiplicative inverse of a or
the reciprocal of a such that
 1   1 
a  = a =1
 a  a
6. Distributive Property. For all real
numbers a, b, and c

a(b+c) = ab+ac
Example 16. Consider the following sets:

Z ={...,−3,−2,−1,0,1, 2,3,...}
N ={1, 2,3,...}
S ={−1,0,1}
 The following holds true:
i. Z is closed under addition, subtraction,
and multiplication.
ii. Z is NOT closed under division.
iii. N is closed under addition and
multiplication.
iv. N is NOT closed under subtraction and
division.
v. S is closed under multiplication.
vi. S is NOT closed under addition
subtraction, and division.
1.3. Some Theorems on Integers
Theorem 1.
Leta,b,cZ.
i.If a+b = a+c,thenb =c.
ii.If ab= ac,thenb =c.
Theorem 2.
ForanyaZ, a(0) =0(a) =0.
Theorem 3.
If a and b are two integers with ab = 0, then
either a = 0 or b = 0.
Theorem 4.
For any integer a, -(-a) = a.

Theorem 5.

Let a and b be integers such that a > b, then

Theorem 5.1. a + c > b + c for any integer c.
Theorem 5.2. ad > bd, for any positive integer d.
Theorem 5.3. ad < bd, for any negative integer d.
Lesson Check 1.
I. Given that
48 1 5 12
A={−9,− ,− ,− 5,0, , , 18,56}
12 13 6 4
Identify the elements of the following subsets:

1. The set of natural numbers

2. The set of whole numbers
3. The set of negative integers
4. The set of integers
5. The set of rational numbers
6. The set of irrational numbers
II. Give three examples for each of the
following:
1. Rational numbers that are NOT integers.
2. Integers that are NOT whole numbers.
3. Real numbers that are NOT rational
numbers.
III. Identify the property illustrated in each
statement. Assume that all variables represent
real numbers.

1. 8(x+1) =(x+1)8 2. 0+(a−4) = a−4

3. 12 isarealnumber 4. 1(x+ y) = x+ y
5. (x+6) 1 =1 if x+6  0
x+6
IV. Is there a commutative property for
subtraction? Support your answer.