Number theory · Year 12

In Year 12 you learn: divisibility and primes.

Number theory studies the whole numbers: divisibility, primes, remainders and the patterns they make. It was once the purest of pure mathematics. Now it secures online payments, because modular arithmetic makes some calculations easy one way and practically impossible to reverse.

Key facts

• If n = pᵃ × qᵇ (p, q prime), n has (a + 1)(b + 1) positive divisors.
• lcm(a, b) = ab ÷ gcd(a, b).

Other years

• Number theory · Year 13