I’ll use the notation (x, y, z) to denote 4x + 2y + z where x, y, z ≥ 0.

Now
notice that following representations, using just 0 and 1, are unique for each
number from 0 to 7, ie, there are no other ways of representing numbers
from 0 to 7, by only using 10 s and 00 s in this notation.
(0, 0, 0) = 0
(0, 0, 1) = 1
(0, 1, 0) = 2
(0, 1, 1) = 3
(1, 0, 0) = 4
(1, 0, 1) = 5
(1, 1, 0) = 6
(1, 1, 1) = 7
.
Let m = (dn−1 dn−2 . . . d0 )8 be a number in base 8 notation, which means
0 ≤ di ≤ 7.
Then
n−1
X n−1
X
(dn−1 dn−2 . . . d0 )8 = di 8i = (xi , yi , zi )8i
i=0 i=0
n−1
X n−1
X n−1
X
=( xi 8i , yi 8 i , zi 8i ) = (x, y, z)
i=0 i=0 i=0

Where di is a digit between 0 and 7 (inclusive) and (xi , yi , zi ) its corre-

sponding representation from the above list. It follows that each of xi , yi
and zi is either 0 or 1. So for any number m ≥ 0, m = (x, y, z) where digits
of x, y, z are only 00 s and 10 s in base 8.
Consider the sequence, < bn >= (0)8 , (1)8 , (10)8 , (11)8 , (100)8 . . . , from above
it is clear that for any number m there exist i, j, k such that m = (bi , bj , bk ).
To show that this representation is unique notice that in the addition m =
(bi , bj , bk ) = 4bi + 2bj + bk there will be no carry digit, so simple digit-
wise addition will give us base 8 representation of m. Now suppose m =
(bi , bj , bk ) = (bi0 , bj 0 , bk0 ), and let dn (x) be the nth digit of a number x,
then dn ((m)8 ) = 4dn (bi ) + 2dn (bj ) + dn (bk ) = 4dn (bi0 ) + 2dn (bj 0 ) + dn (bk0 ),
so 0 ≤ dn ((m)8 ) = (dn (bi ), dn (bj ), dn (bk )) = (dn (bi0 ), dn (bj 0 ), dn (bk0 )) ≤ 7.
Each of dn (bi ), dn (bj ), dn (bk ), dn (bi0 ), dn (bj 0 ), dn (bk0 ) is a 0 or a 1, and since
representation of digits from 0 to 7 using just 0 or 1 is unique (as given in
the list above), dn (bi ) = dn (bi0 ), dn (bj ) = dn (bj 0 ), dn (bk ) = dn (bk0 ) for all
n, so bi = bi0 , bj = bj 0 and bk = bk0 . < bn > is our desired sequence in base 8.

Observe that < bn > is given by, b0 = 0, b2n = (10bn )8 , b2n+1 =

(b2n +1)8 . This sequence in decimal notation is, a0 = 0, a2n = 8an , a2n+1 =
a2n + 1,
< an >= 0, 1, 8, 9, 64, 65, 72, 73 . . .
In particular a1998 = 810 + 89 + 88 + 87 + 86 + 83 + 82 + 81 .