How to find out if a number is prime - ISEE Upper Level: Quantitative Reasoning

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Question

Which is the greater quantity?

(A) The number of primes between 100 and 200 that feature 7 as their middle digit

(B) The number of primes between 100 and 200 that feature 7 as their last digit

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Answer

The numbers between 100 and 200 that feature 7 as their middle digit are

We can immediately weed out the multiples of 2 and 5 by their last digit (0, 2, 4, 5, 6, or 8):

171 and 177 have digit sums 9 and 15, so both are multiples of 3 and can also be weeded out. This leaves

By attempting to divide by 7, 11 and 13 (no others are necessary, since the square of 17 exceeds 200), we can see both of these numbers are prime. The set in (A) has these two elements.

A similar process can be used to find the primes from the set of numbers between 100 and 200 that feature 7 as their last digit, which is

This time, since all numbers end in 7, we cannot weed out any multiples of 2 or 5. We can weed out 117, 147, and 177 as multiples of 3, since their digit sums are 9, 12, and 15, respectively. This leaves

Since , we can remove 187; there are no multiples of 13, and we need go no further. The primes are

.

The set in (B) has six elements and is the set of greater cardinality. (B) is greater.

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