What does " | " mean/stand for? (1 Viewer)

[Saintly Devil]

I saw it in a book. It was used like 5|m, 5|m³ and such. Does anyone know what it means/stands for???

 

[BlackJack]

5 per metre, and 5 per metre cubed I think.

If it still doesn't make sense give us a context to work with.

 

[Saintly Devil]

No.....I don't think it's the fraction sign

I actually got it from an explanation of how to solve a Mathematics Competition question.

The question was as follows:
The numbers p, q, r, s and t are consecutive positive integers, arranged in increasing order.
If p+q+r+s+t is a perfect cube and q+r+s is a perfect square, find the smallest possible value of r.

That was the question, this is the explanation (not full, but up to the part where I get confused):

Since p, q, r, s and t are 5 consecutive integers, their sum is divisible by 5, i.e.
p+q+r+s+t=5r
as r is the middle integer of the group

Also, their sum is a cube, so
p+q+r+s+t=m³
for some integer m

Then
5|m³ and 5 is prime, hence 5|m

Now where did that last statement come from, and what does it mean, is my question.

 

[marsesbars]

I've seen Coroneos use this notation in his polynomials section.

5|m means 5 divides perfectly into m (so, x|y means x is a factor of y)

 

[BlackJack]

There. Haven't met that one in years... forgot about that. They should use it more often and actually teach it in schools as an aside...