Positive integers less than $N$ not divisible by $4$ or $6$

How many positive integers less than $N$ are not divisible by $4$ or $6$ for some $N$?

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Will, perhaps you should start by breaking it down into cases of N. What if N itself is divisble by 4? By 6? By lcm(4,6)? –  tacos_tacos_tacos Nov 15 '12 at 2:03
And to follow up on that point, what if you look at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16... –  tacos_tacos_tacos Nov 15 '12 at 2:07
I'm not sure :/ –  Will eastbay Nov 15 '12 at 2:13
1/4 of all numbers are divisible by 4, 1/6 of all numbers are divisible by 6, and 1/(lcm 4,6) = 1/12 of all numbers are divisible by 4 and 6... so given a random N, P(divisible by 4 or 6) = P(divisible by 4) + P(divisible by 6) - P(divisible by 12) = 3/12 + 2/12 - 1/12 = 4/12 = 1/3... –  tacos_tacos_tacos Nov 15 '12 at 2:17
So N -(1/12)N? Is that it? –  Will eastbay Nov 15 '12 at 2:19

Form three arithmetic sequences:

1.- Numbers that are divisible by $\,4\,$ and less or equal than $\,400\,$:

$$4,8,12,...\Longrightarrow a_1=4\,\,,\,d=4\Longrightarrow a_n=a_1+(n-1)d=4+(n-1)4\leq 400\Longrightarrow n\leq 100$$

2.- Numbers that are divisible by $\,6\,$ and less or equal than $\,400\,$:

$$6,12,18,...\Longrightarrow a_1=6\,\,,\,d=6\Longrightarrow a_n=6+(n-1)6\leq 400\Longrightarrow n\leq66$$

3.- Numbers that are divisible by $\,4\,$ and $\,6\,$ and less or equal than $\,400\,$:

$$12,24,36,...\Longrightarrow a_1=12\,\,,\,d=12\Longrightarrow a_n=12+(n-1)12\leq 400\Longrightarrow n\leq 33$$

Well, take it now from here: how many positive integers less than $\,400\,$ are not divisible by $4\,,\,6\,$?

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I think you mean "4 AND 6" rather than "4 or 6" –  tacos_tacos_tacos Nov 15 '12 at 2:36
Yes, sure. Thanks for that. –  DonAntonio Nov 15 '12 at 2:38

One approach:

Count the number of numbers divisible by $4 ([\frac N4] )$, then count the number of numbers divisible by $6(\frac N6] )$, Now during these calculations we've calculated nos divisible by $12 ([\frac N{12} ] )$ twice, so we subtract it thereby giving the number of integers divisible by either $4$ or $6$ as $[ \frac N4 ] + [ \frac N6 ] - [\frac N{12}]$. Now subtract this number from $N$ to get required answer.

Note:

1. I've used Principle of inclusion exclusion.

2. $[ \cdot ]$ denote floor function.

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Bah, beat me to it –  user45793 Nov 15 '12 at 2:40
lol ;-), happened to me a lot of times.. –  TheJoker Nov 15 '12 at 6:56

A naive and computational answer: look at congruence modulo 12.

1. Empty (no natural numbers less than 1) = $0$
2. ${1}$ = $1$
3. ${1,2}$ = $2$
4. ${1, 2, 3}$ = $3$
5. ${1, 2, 3}$ = $3$
6. ${1, 2, 3, 5}$ = $4$
7. ${1, 2, 3, 5}$ = $4$
8. ${1, 2, 3, 5, 7}$ = $5$
9. ${1, 2, 3, 5, 7}$ = $5$
10. ${1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9}$ = $6$
11. ${1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10}$ = $7$
12. ${1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11}$ = $8$

From here, observe that any $N$ will be congruent to one of these guys, so you add $N \mod 12$ to 8 times the floor of $N/12$; ie $13 = 12 + 1$ so $n(13) = 8 \times 1 + 0 = 8$ and $n(155) = 8 \times 12 + n(11) = 96 + 7 = 103$.

And then see how you can improve my naive method to get a more "general" answer.

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