greatest integer function:- For an arbitrary real number x, we denote by [x] the largest integer less

than or equal to x, that is, [x] is the unique integer satisfying x − 1 < [x] ≤ x.
An example of the greatest integer function applied to different real numbers:
3
[− ] = −2,
2
1
[ ] = 0,
2
[1] = 1,
1
[ ] = 0,
3
[3.999] = 3,
[−3.999999] = −4.
⌊3.7⌋ = 3,
⌊−2.5⌋ = −3,
⌊5⌋ = 5,
⌊π⌋ = 3,
√
⌊ 2⌋ = 1.

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Properties of the Greatest Integer Function:

1. Let x and y be real numbers. Prove the following properties:

(a) ⌊x + n⌋ = ⌊x⌋ + n for any integer n.

(
0 if x is an integer
(b) ⌊x⌋ + ⌊−x⌋ =
−1 if x is not an integer
(c) ⌊x⌋ + ⌊y⌋ ≤ ⌊x + y⌋, and when x and y are positive, ⌊x⌋⌊y⌋ ≤ ⌊xy⌋.
j k
(d) ⌊ nx ⌋ = ⌊x⌋
n for any positive integer n.
(e) ⌊ nm m
k ⌋ ≥ n⌊ k ⌋ for positive integers n, m, k.
(f) ⌊x⌋ + ⌊y⌋ + ⌊x + y⌋ ≤ ⌊2x⌋ + ⌊2y⌋.

(a) ⌊x + n⌋ = ⌊x⌋ + n for any integer n.

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(a) ⌊x + n⌋ = ⌊x⌋ + n for any integer n.
Solution: Let x be a real number and n be an integer. We want to prove that ⌊x + n⌋ = ⌊x⌋ + n.
Consider the two cases:
i. If x is an integer, then ⌊x + n⌋ = x + n = ⌊x⌋ + n.
ii. If x is not an integer, then we can write x = ⌊x⌋ + {x}, where 0 ≤ {x} < 1. So, x + n =
⌊x⌋ + {x} + n, where {x} + n < 1. Hence, ⌊x + n⌋ = ⌊x⌋ + n.
Therefore, the given property holds true for all real numbers x and integers n.

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 (
0 if x is an integer
(a) [⌊x⌋] + [⌊−x⌋] =
−1 if x is not an integer

4
 (
0 if x is an integer
(b) [⌊x⌋] + [⌊−x⌋] =
−1 if x is not an integer
Solution: We know that ⌊x⌋ denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to x. Therefore,
[⌊x⌋] represents the greatest integer less than or equal to ⌊x⌋.
Now, let’s consider two cases:
A. If x is an integer, then ⌊x⌋ = x and ⌊−x⌋ = −x. Thus, [⌊x⌋] + [⌊−x⌋] = x + (−x) = 0.
B. If x is not an integer, then ⌊x⌋ < x < ⌊x⌋ + 1 and ⌊−x⌋ = −(⌊x⌋ + 1). Hence, [⌊x⌋] +
[⌊−x⌋] = ⌊x⌋ + (⌊x⌋ + 1) = −1.
Therefore, the given equation holds true for all real numbers x.

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(c) ⌊x⌋ + ⌊y⌋ ≤ ⌊x + y⌋ and, when x and y are positive, ⌊x⌋⌊y⌋ ≤ ⌊xy⌋.

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(a) ⌊x⌋ + ⌊y⌋ ≤ ⌊x + y⌋ and, when x and y are positive, ⌊x⌋⌊y⌋ ≤ ⌊xy⌋.
Solution:
(b) We first prove ⌊x⌋ + ⌊y⌋ ≤ ⌊x + y⌋:
• Let x′ = ⌊x⌋ and y ′ = ⌊y⌋. Then x′ ≤ x < x′ + 1 and y ′ ≤ y < y ′ + 1.
• Adding the inequalities x′ ≤ x and y ′ ≤ y, we get x′ + y ′ ≤ x + y.
• Since x′ and y ′ are integers, ⌊x′ + y ′ ⌋ = x′ + y ′ .
• Therefore, ⌊x⌋ + ⌊y⌋ = x′ + y ′ ≤ ⌊x + y⌋.
(c) Next, we prove ⌊x⌋⌊y⌋ ≤ ⌊xy⌋:
• Since x and y are positive, we have ⌊x⌋ ≤ x and ⌊y⌋ ≤ y.
• Multiplying the inequalities ⌊x⌋ ≤ x and ⌊y⌋ ≤ y, we get ⌊x⌋⌊y⌋ ≤ xy.
• Therefore, ⌊x⌋⌊y⌋ ≤ ⌊xy⌋.
Thus, both statements are proved.

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(d) ⌊ nx ⌋ = ⌊ ⌊x⌋
n ⌋ for any positive integer n.

8
(e) ⌊ nx ⌋ = ⌊ ⌊x⌋
n ⌋ for any positive integer n.
Solution: Let x = ⌊x⌋ + {x}, where {x} denotes the fractional part of x, such that
0 ≤ {x} < 1.
Then nx = ⌊x⌋ {x}
n + n .
Since 0 ≤ {x} < 1, we have 0 ≤ {x} n < n.
1
⌊x⌋
Therefore, ⌊ nx ⌋ = ⌊ n ⌋.

9
(f) [nm m
k ] ≥ n[ k ] for positive integers n, m, k.

10
(g) [nm m
k ] ≥ n[ k ] for positive integers n, m, k.
Solution: Let x = nm m


k . We can
express x as x = n k .
Since m k < 1, we have 0≤n m k < n.
nm
Therefore, [ k ] = n[ k ] or [nm
m
k ] = n[m
k ] + 1.
nm m
In either case, [ k ] ≥ n[ k ].

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(h) ⌊x⌋ + ⌊y⌋ + ⌊x + y⌋ ≤ ⌊2x⌋ + ⌊2y⌋.

12
(i) ⌊x⌋ + ⌊y⌋ + ⌊x + y⌋ ≤ ⌊2x⌋ + ⌊2y⌋.
Solution: Let x = ⌊x⌋ + {x} and y = ⌊y⌋ + {y}, where {x} and {y} denote the fractional
parts of x and y, respectively, such that 0 ≤ {x}, {y} < 1.
Then 2x = ⌊2x⌋ + {2x} and 2y = ⌊2y⌋ + {2y}.
Since 0 ≤ {x}, {y} < 1, we have 0 ≤ {x} + {y} < 2.
Therefore, ⌊x⌋ + ⌊y⌋ + ⌊x + y⌋ ≤ ⌊2x⌋ + ⌊2y⌋.

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Problem
Find the highest power of 2 that divides 7! manually.

Solution
7! = 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1
Now, we can identify how many numbers in the factorial are divisible by 2:
Now, let’s count:
• There are 27 = 3 numbers divisible by 2.
 

• There are 74 = 1 number divisible by 4 (contributing an additional factor of 2).

 

Adding up these counts, we get:

power of 2 in 7! = 3 + 1 = 4
So, the highest power of 2 that divides 7! is 4.

Problem
Find the highest power of 2 that divides 9! manually.

Solution
9! = 9 × 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1
Now, we can identify how many numbers in the factorial are divisible by 2:
Now, let’s count:
• There are 29 = 4 numbers divisible by 2.
 

• There are 94 = 2 numbers divisible by 4 (each contributing an additional factor of

 

2).
Adding up these counts, we get:

power of 2 in 9! = 4 + 2 = 6
So, the highest power of 2 that divides 9! is 6.

Problem
Find the highest power of 2 that divides 25! manually.

Solution
25! = 25 × 24 × 23 × . . . × 2 × 1
Now, we can identify how many numbers in the factorial are divisible by 2:
Now, let’s count:
• There are 25
 
2  = 12 numbers divisible by 2.
• There are 4 = 6 numbers divisible by 4 (each contributing an additional factor of
 25

2).
• There are 25
 
= 3 numbers divisible by 8 (each contributing one more factor of 2).
 25 8
• There is 16 = 1 number divisible by 16 (contributing another factor of 2).

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 • There are no numbers divisible by 32.
Adding up these counts, we get:

power of 2 in 25! = 12 + 6 + 3 + 1 = 22
So, the highest power of 2 that divides 25! is 22.

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Theorem 6.9
For any positive integer n and prime p, the exponent of the highest power of p (say e)that
divides n! is given by
∞  
X n
e= .
pk
k=1

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Theorem 1 For any positive integer n and prime p, the exponent e of the highest power
of p that divides n! is given by
∞  
X n
e= .
pk
k=1

We prove this statement by induction.

Base jCase:
k For n = 1, there are no occurrences of p in 1!. Hence, e = 0. Also,
P∞ 1
k=1 pk = 0 since there are no multiples of p less than 1.
Inductive Step: Assume the statement holds for n = m, i.e.,
∞  
X m
em = .
pk
k=1

Now, consider (m + 1)!:

(m + 1)! = (m + 1) × m!
j k
m+1
Since m! has em occurrences of p, (m + 1)! will have em + p occurrences of p due to
the additional factor (m +j 1). k
This yields em+1 = em + m+1 p .
P∞ j m+1 k j k
By induction, em+1 = k=1 pk , as adding m+1 p does not change the sum.
Thus, the statement holds for all positive integers n.

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Problem 1
Find the highest power of 7 that divides 1000!.

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Solution 1
To find the highest power of 7 that divides 1000!, we use the formula:
     
1000 1000 1000
power of 7 in 1000! = + + + ...
7 72 73
Calculating each term:
 
1000
= 142
7
   
1000 142
= = 20
72 7
   
1000 20
= =2
73 7
Adding these together:

power of 7 in 1000! = 142 + 20 + 2 = 164

So, the highest power of 7 that divides 1000! is 7164 .

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Problem 2
Find the highest power of 7 that divides 2000!.

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Solution 2
To find the highest power of 7 that divides 2000!, we use the same formula as in Problem
1, but with 2000 instead of 1000.
     
2000 2000 2000
power of 7 in 2000! = + + + ...
7 72 73
Calculating each term:
 
2000
= 285
7
   
2000 285
= = 40
72 7
   
2000 40
= =5
73 7
Adding these together:

power of 7 in 2000! = 285 + 40 + 5 = 330

So, the highest power of 7 that divides 2000! is 7330 .

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Problem 3
Find the highest power of 2 that divides 533!.

22
Solution 3
To find the highest power of 2 that divides 533!, we count the number of factors of 2 in
the prime factorization of 533!.
The formula to find the number of factors of 2 in n! is given by:
jnk j n k j n k
power of 2 in n! = + 2 + 3 + ...
2 2 2
Calculating each term for n = 533:
 
533
= 266
2
   
533 266
= = 133
22 2
   
533 133
= = 66
23 2
Adding these together:

power of 2 in 533! = 266 + 133 + 66 = 465

So, the highest power of 2 that divides 533! is 2465 .

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Problem 4
Find the highest power of 3 that divides 533!.

24
Solution 4
To find the highest power of 3 that divides 533!, we count the number of factors of 3 in
the prime factorization of 533!.
The formula to find the number of factors of 3 in n! is similar to the formula for factors
of 2:
jnk j n k j n k
power of 3 in n! = + 2 + 3 + ...
3 3 3
Calculating each term for n = 533:
 
533
= 177
3
   
533 177
= = 59
32 3
   
533 59
3
= = 19
3 3
Adding these together:

power of 3 in 533! = 177 + 59 + 19 = 255

So, the highest power of 3 that divides 533! is 3255 .

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Problem 5
Find the highest power of 12 that divides 533!.

26
Solution 5
To find the highest power of 12 that divides 533!, we need to find the highest powers of
2 and 3 separately since 12 = 2 × 2 × 3. The answer will be the minimum of the highest
powers of 2 and 3.
From the previous solutions, we found that the highest power of 2 that divides 533! is
2465 and the highest power of 3 that divides 533! is 3255 .
So, the highest power of 12 that divides 533! will be 2465 (since it is the minimum of 2465
and 3255 ).

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Problem 6
Find the number of zeros with which the decimal representation of 1000! terminates.

28
Solution 6
To find the number of zeros with which the decimal representation of 1000! terminates,
we need to count the number of factors of 5 in the prime factorization of 1000! since every
pair of 2 and 5 will give a trailing zero.
The formula to find the number of factors of 5 in n! is given by:
jnk j n k j n k
power of 5 in n! = + 2 + 3 + ...
5 5 5
Calculating each term for n = 1000:
 
1000
= 200
5
   
1000 200
= = 40
52 5
   
1000 40
3
= =8
5 5
Adding these together:

power of 5 in 1000! = 200 + 40 + 8 = 248

So, there are 248 zeros with which the decimal representation of 1000! terminates.

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Problem 7
Find the number of zeros with which the decimal representation of 50! terminates.

30
Solution 7
Using the same approach as in Solution 6, we calculate the number of factors of 5 in 50!.
 
50
= 10
5
   
50 10
2
= =2
5 5
Adding these together:

power of 5 in 50! = 10 + 2 = 12
So, there are 12 zeros with which the decimal representation of 50! terminates.

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Problem 8
If 100! were written out in ordinary decimal notation (without the factorial sign), how
many zeros would there be at the right end?

Solution 8
To find the number of zeros with which the decimal representation of 100! terminates, we
need to count the number of factors of 5 in the prime factorization of 100! since every
pair of 2 and 5 will give a trailing zero.
The formula to find the number of factors of 5 in n! is given by:
jnk j n k j n k
power of 5 in n! = + 2 + 3 + ...
5 5 5
Calculating each term for n = 100:
 
100
= 20
5
   
100 20
2
= =4
5 5
   
100 4
= =0
53 5
Adding these together:

power of 5 in 100! = 20 + 4 + 0 = 24
So, there are 24 zeros with which the decimal representation of 100! terminates.

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