Exploration of the Kaprekar Constant

A Study Proposal






Jessica D. Lascamana





CHAPTER 1
Introduction

Background of the Study
In 1949 the mathematician D. R. Kaprekar from Devlali, India, devised a process now
known as Kaprekar's constant. Kaprekar's constant is notable for the following property:
1) Take any four-digit number with at least two digits different.
2) Arrange the digits in ascending and then in descending order to get two four-digit numbers,
adding leading zeros if necessary.
3) Subtract the smaller number from the bigger number.
4) Go back to Step #2.
The above process, known as Kaprekar's routine, will always reach its fixed point, 6174, in at
most 7 iterations.[4] Once 6174 is reached, the process will continue yielding 7641 1467 =
6174. For example, choose 3524:
5432 2345 = 3087
8730 0378 = 8352
8532 2358 = 6174
7641 1467 = 6174
The only four-digit numbers for which Kaprekar's routine does not reach 6174 are repdigits such
as 1111, which give the result 0 after a single iteration. All other four-digit numbers eventually
reach 6174 if leading zeros are used to keep the number of digits at 4.
495 is the equivalent constant for three-digit numbers. For two-digit numbers, there is no
equivalent constant; for any starting number with differing digits, the routine enters the loop (45,
9, 81, 63, 27, 45, ). For each digit length greater than four, the routine may terminate at one
of several fixed values or may enter one of several loops instead.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6174_(number)


Statement of the Problem
This study will answer the following questions.
1. What are the kaprekar constant in 3-digit and 4-digit numbers?
2.