How many four-digit numbers whose digits add up to 9 are divisible by 11?
I'm not too sure about this, but I don't believe any such numbers exist......here's my reasoning :
Let the 4 digits be a , b, c and d
And assume that each digit, except a, can only have a possible range of 0 - 9, inclusive [a only ranges from 1 - 9, inclusive]
So we have that
a + b + c + d = 9
Rearrange this as (a + c) + ( b + d) = 9 (1)
And it can be shown that if the alternating sums of a 4 digit number equal some multiple of 11 (or, 0)...then that number is divisible by 11
For instance 1331.....we have 1 - 3 + 3 - 1 = -2 + 2 = 0 and 1331 = 11^3
Or, for instance, 9141 .....we have 9 -1 + 4 - 1 = 8 + 3 = 11 and 9141 = 831 * 11
So.... our 4 digit number is divisible by 11 if ( a - b) + (c - d ) = 11n where n is an integer
Rearranging this, we have (a + c) - (b + d) = 11n (2)
Adding (1) and (2) we have that
2(a + c) = 11n + 9
Now......the left side is even, so n must be odd...now, let n = 1.....then
2(a + c) = 11(1) + 9
2 (a + c) = 20
a + c = 10
But this means that, by (1), 10 + ( b + d ) = 9 → ( b + d) = -1.....but, since b, d can only range from 0-9, this is impossible
And we can clearly see that if n is any odd integer > 1, then a + c > 10 which by (1), makes (b + d) negative. And this violates our assumption that b, d can only range for 0-9, inclusive.
And n cannot be any negative odd, either....for instance, if n = -1
2(a + c) = 11(-1) + 9
2(a + c) = -2
a + c = -1 and this is also impossible, by our assumption
And for any negative odd > 1, (a + c) < -1 which also violates our assumption
Thus, no "n" exists that makes (1) and (2) both true, so there is no 4 digit number that will sum to 9 and also be divisible by 11
P.S. - I'd like some other mathematician(s) to look at this.......!!!!
A brute force and ignorance calculation shows you to be correct Chris.
There are 91 numbers in the range that are divisible by both 9 and 11
However, the sum of their digits is 18 for all but one of them (the odd one out is 9999, the digits of which sum to 36).
The digital root of each of the 91 numbers is 9 of course. (For the digital root you keep summing the digits until you are left with a single digit.)
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