Suppose that we have two operations that we can perform on an integer:
Multiply it by any positive integer.
Delete the 0's in its decimal representation.
Beginning with any positive integer can we always obtain a single-digit number after a finite number of operations? For example, beginning with 7, we can multiply by 15 to obtain 105, delete the 0 to get 15, multiply by 2 to get 30, then delete the 0 to end with 3.
(In reply to
re(4): Possible solution by Charlie)
This I find interesting:
((((( 111 * 98^2) * 5^4 ) * 12^2) * 4^2) *5^2) * 5 = 9
(((( 999 * 11^2 ) * 4^2 ) * 2^2 ) * 5^3 ) * 2^2) * 5 = 9
multiplying by powers of integers (powers 2 and greater) and then by 5 seems always sufficient but not necessary.
Edited on September 14, 2019, 6:36 pm