Mathematics 2500

Elementary Number Theory

2011 Assignment 1 Solutions
Updated February 24, 2011
1:6 Find two different solutions of 299x + 247y = 13.

 

1 0 299
1 1 52
Solution: Using the matrix method,


  0 1 247
 0 1 247

1 1 52
19 23 0
5 6 13

.
5 6 13
5 6 13
19 23 0
So (x, y) = (5, 6) is onesolution. For a second solution add the second row to the
14 17 13
first in the final matrix:
.. Since this is also in the target form,
19 23 0
(x, y) = (14, 17) is another solution.
Comments: There are infinitely many solutions, so our answers are not unique. There
are also many different ways to navigate through the steps of the matrix reduction, but
I generally prefer at each point to take the step producing a number whose absolute
value is as small as possible in the right hand column. Note that the instruction I
gave you calls for the matrix method. You will lose marks if you did not follow this
instruction. You could also follow the Euclidean algorithm, which I believe is one step
longer in this problem. Whether you use the steps of the Euclidean algorithm or an
approach like mine. It is not necessary to explicitly write down the general solution;
indeed, this was not covered in Section 1 and wouldnt really be appropriate.

1:9 Prove that ((a, b), b) = (a, b).

Solution: Let c = (a, b) and d = ((a, b), b).
Thus, d = (c, b). Now obviously c|c and, by definition, c|b, so c d.
Similarly, d|c because d = (c, b), so d c (greatest common divisors are positive
numbers, so d|c implies the inequality).
Combining the two inequalities gives c = d, as required. 2
Comments: Most nice proofs will involve two inequalities like this.

2:2 Find the prime-power decompositions of 2345, 45670, and 999999999999.

(Note that 101|1000001.)
Solution: 2345 = 5 7 67
45670 = 2 5 4567
999999999999 = 999999 1000001 = 32 111111 101 991 = 32 111 1001 101 991 =
33 7 37 101 143 991 = 33 7 11 13 37 101 991.
Comments: If you tried to do all of these on your calculator, you did too much work.
Remember that Appendix C is a table of odd numbers up to 10,000 either indicating
that they are prime or showing their first prime factor. When you get used to using
this table youll find exercises like this fairly mechanical and easy.

2:4 (a) De Bouvelles (1509) claimed that one or both of 6n + 1 and 6n 1 are primes for
all n 1. Show that he was wrong.
(b) Show that there are infinitely many n such that both 6n + 1 and 6n 1 are
composite.
Solution: You are asked only to do (b) and only the case 6n 1 that is, show that there are
infinitely many composition numbers of this form.
The standard factorization ae 1 = (a 1)(ae1 + ae2 + ae3 + + a2 + a + 1)
holds for all a and all e Z+ . Thus it holds for a = 6. Letting e run over the positive
integers greater than 1 we obtain infinitely many numbers greater than 5 and divisible
by a 1 = 5, as required.
Comments: It is easy to solve both parts simultaneously by letting e run over only
the odd positive integers greater than 1. Recall that another standard factorization
has ae + 1 = (a + 1)(ae1 ae2 + ae3 1), when e is odd. Thus ae has the
form 6n, where 5|(6n 1) and 7|(6n + 1).

2:5, 6 Prove that if n is a square, then each exponent in its prime-power decomposition is
even.
and
Prove that if each exponent in the prime-power decomposition of n is even, then n is
s square.
Solution: Let n = m2 , where m has prime-power decomposition m = pe11 pekk . Then n =
2ek
1
m2 = (pe11 pekk )2 = p2e
1 pk . By the fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic, the
prime-power decomposition of n is unique, so this is itand every exponent is even,
as required. This proves #5.


ek 2
2ek
2e1
1
a square,
Now suppose, conversely, that n = p2e
1 pk . Then n = p1 pk
as required. This proves #6.
Comments: You must invoke uniqueness in #5 else one might say, yes, its all well
and good that you have some prime power decomposition with all even powers, but
the prime power decomposition of n might be a different decomposition, with odd
powers.

2:14 Prove that if n is composite, 2n 1 is composite.

Solution: Suppose  n
=
ab, where a,
>
1.
Then n
=
(2a )b
=
b
a
a b1
a b2
(2 1) (2 ) + (2 ) + + 1 . Since a > 1 and b > 1, the two factors
are both > 1, so n is composite.
Comments: This is probably the only approach that works.

3:2 Find all the integer solutions of 2x + y = 2, 3x 4y = 0, and 15x + 18y = 17.
Solution: In the first two case (a, b) = 1 and a particular solution (x0 , y0 ) is immediately obvious
so Theorem 1 gives an immediate solution, (x, y) = (x0 + bt, y0 at).
For the first, (x, y) = (1, 0) is a particular solution, so the general solution is (x, y) =
(1 + t, 2t), t Z.
For the second, (x, y) = (4, 3) is a particular solution, so the general solution is
(x, y) = (4 4t, 3 3t), t Z.
For the third we observe (or derive using Euclidean algorithm or the matrix method)
that (a, b) = 3 6 | 17, so there is no solution.
Comments: It doesnt hurt to explicitly write down a formula before using it. In
fact, I generally consider showing a correct and appropriate formula (on exams, etc)
to be worth one (part) mark even when everything else is wrong. Normally you
should never use names without defining them unless they are used in a problem.
In explaining this I used names a, b, x0 and y0 improperly by this rule. This is
marginally acceptable in this case because these names are understood in context.
You should write t Z for a similar reason. It is not good practice to assume your
reader automatically understands the possible values of a parameter.
I write my solutions here as number pairs, (x, y) = . This is not strictly necessary
and its perfectly acceptable to use pairs of equations x = , y = instead.

3:4 Find all the solutions in positive integers of x + y = 2, 3x 4y = 0, and 7x + 15y = 51

Solution: First solve over the integers.
Once more, the first is immediate, (x, y) = (1 + t, 1 t), t Z. 

1 0 7
1 0 7
The third is easily solved with the matrix method,

0 1 15
2 1 1

 

15 7 0
2 1 1

. So 7(2) + 15(1) = 1. Multiplying by 51 gives

2 1 1
15 7 0
the particular solution 7(102) + 15(51) = 51, so the general solution is (x, y) =
(102 + 15t, 51 7t), t Z.
Then place bounds on t. In the first, 1 + t > 0, 1 t > 0, so 1 < t < 1, i.e., t = 0.
In the second, we obtain t < 1, so t = 0, 1, 2, . . .. In the third, 102 + 15t > 0,
51 7t > 0, so 102
< t < 51
, so t = 7.
15
7
Substituting t into the parametric solutions we obtain the answers, namely (a) (x, y) =
(1, 1); (b) (x, y) = (4 4t, 3 3t), t < 1; and (c) (x, y) = (3, 2).
Comments: Much of the second part is a repeat of part of problem 2 so it is not
marked here. The form of the solution is not unique (It never is when a parameter is
involved). In particular, in the second and third parts it makes sense to use t as a
parameter instead of t, so your answers would look like (b) (x, y) = (4 + 4t, 3 + 3t),
t 0; and (c) (x, y) = (102 15t, 5 + 7t), t {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}. While in (b) it is
necessary to simply specify in terms of t because there are infinitely many solutions
whereas in (a) and (c) there was only one so t would be an excrescence. If bounds
like 3 < t < 8 were found, you could opt for a parameterless list of the three solutions
or parametric form.

3:8 The enrollment in a number theory class consists of sophomores, juniors, and backward
seniors. If each sophomore contributes $1.25, each junior $.90, and each senior $.50,
the instructor will have a fund of $25. There are 26 students; how many of each?
Solution: Let a, b and c represent the numbers of sophomores, juniors and seniors in the class,
respectively. From the story problem we have
a + b + c = 26
125a + 90b + 50c = 2500
Subtracting 50 the first equation from the second gives an equation in a and b:
75a + 40b = 1200
We solve over the integers with the matrix method:

 
 
 

1 0 75
1 2 5
1 2 5
1 2 5

.
0 1 40
0 1 40
8 15 0
8 15 0
The first row gives 75(1)+40(2) = 5. Multiplying by 240 gives 74(240)+40(480) =
1200, a particular solution to the equation. Using the information in the second line
of the matrix yields the full solution, (a, b) = (240 + 8t, 480 15t).
Since a+b+c = 26 we have c = 26ab = 26(240+8t)(48015t) = 214+7t.
The wording suggests each group is represented, so 0 < a, b, c 26. In particular,
this holds for b, so 0 < 480 15t 26, so 454 15t < 480, which implies t = 31.
So (a, b, c) = (240 + 8 31, 480 15 31, 214 + 7 31) = (8, 15, 3). There are 8
juniors, 15 sophomores and 3 seniors.
Comments: I introduce names a, b and c in my solutionmandatory in this situation.
Why? The names are not standard and cant be inferred from context. You must
tell the reader everything they need to know that is not already inferable from the
problem itself or from general context. You should understand why this is so and do
it automatically. I will let you get away with this here, but count on a free pass in
future assignments or tests! a, b or c = 0 is not explicitly excluded; in this case there
is another possible solution, (a, b, c) = (16, 0, 10). You may notice that much work
is saved by dividing the second equation by 5. I avoided doing so here because we
dont assume that you immediately notice the greatest common denominator of the
coefficients; the method works whether you observe such shortcuts or not.

4:2 Find the least residue of 1492 (mod 4), (mod 10) and (mod 101).
Solution: 1492 = 373 4 0 (mod 4); 1492 = 149 10 + 2 2 (mod 10); and 1492 = 14 101 +
78 78 (mod 101). So the required least residues are 0, 2 and 78 respectively.
Comments: Not marked. Work consists of using the division algorithm to express
1492 as in Theorem 1. Note, it suffices to do this in stages, or by observation. For
example, you might note that 1500, being a multiple of 100, is a multiple of 4 so
1492 8 (mod 4), and draw the conclusion from there. When a random need for
a least residue arises among small numbers (say less than 10 digits) this kind of ad
hoc approach is my preferred method. However, it is good practice to show how you
use results from the section a problem is supposed to be practice for.

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4:3 Prove or disprove that if a b (mod m), then a2 b2 (mod m)

Solution: This is an immediate consequence of Lemma 1 (c). (Take c = a and d = b.) Here is
an alternate approach using the definition of congruence:
Let a b (mod m). Then m|(b a) by definition. Thus, m|(b a)(b + a). That is,
m|(b2 a2 . So a2 b2 (mod m), by definition.
Comments: Either method has its merits. I expect you to understand both approaches. Lemma 1 is a bag of tools whose use should become like breathing to you.
On the other hand, you should be so accustomed to the definition, it should be almost automatic to construct the alternate proof, which has the aesthetic merit that it
depends on nothing beyond the notion of divisibility and the definition of congruence.

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4:6 Find all m such that 1848 1914 (mod m).

Solution: 1848 1914 (mod m) if and only if m|(1914 1848). That is, m is any positive
divisor of 1914 1848 = 66 = 2 3 11. These are easy to list: 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 22, 33,
66.
Comments: Not everyone admits 1 as a valid modulus. However, as discussed in class
I see no harm in doing so, indeed I believe there is merit in it. I also, you will recall,
admit 0 as a modulus, though that is not relevant to this question.

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23:S1:2 (a) Prove that (a, b) = (a, c) = 1 implies (a, bc) = 1.

(b) Prove that (a, b) = 1 and (c|a) imply (c, b) = 1.
Solution: (a) By Theorem XXX, there exist integers x, y, u, v such that ax + by = au + cv = 1.
Multiplying, we obtain
1 = (ax + by)(au + cv) = a2 xu + acxv + abyu + bcyv = a(axu + cxv + byu) + bc(yv).
Now (a, bc)|a and (a, bc)|bc, so (a, bc)|[a(axu + cxv + byu) + bc(yv)].
That is, (a, bc)|1 so (a, bc) = 1, as claimed.
(b) Suppose a = ck. Since (a, b) = 1 there exist integers x, y such that ax + by = 1.
Thus c(kx) + by = 1. Since (c, b)|b and (c, b)|c, we have (c, b)|[c(kx) + by]. Thus,
(c, b)|1, so (c, b) = 1.
Comments: You cannot use arguments involving prime factors in this problem because
it is explicitly a Section 1 problem. Remember we discussed this in class: Do not use
methods or concepts from later sections to solve problems in earlier sections it
defeats the whole purpose of giving you this work in Section 1 if you invoke prime
factorization, which is not known until after that section. What we did here is clearly
not the only approach to these problems but it makes nice use of a powerful result in
the section.

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23:S3:3 A says We three have $100 altogether. B says, Yes, and if you had six times as
much and I had one-third as much, we three would still have $100. C says Its not
fair. I have less than $30. Who has what?
Solution: Let a, b, c be the amounts, in dollars, had by A, B, C respectivelypresumably integers. The three statements translate as
a + b + c = 100
b
6a + + c = 100
3
c < 30
The second statement is equivalent to 18a + b + 3c = 300. subtracting the first
equation gives 17a + 2c = 200. An obvious particular solution: a0 = 0, c0 = 100.
Since (17, 2) = 1, the general solution is
a = 2t,

c = 100 17t,

t Z.

Further,
b = 100 a c = 100 2t (100 17t) = 15t.
Now our only constraints are that a, b, c 0 and c < 30. Thus, t 0 and 0
2
70
< t 100
. Since 70
= 4 + 17
and 100
= 5 + 15
it follows
100 17t < 30. That is, 17
17
17
17
17
that t = 5. Therefore A, B, C have, respectively, a = 2 5 = $10, b = 15 5 = $75 and
c = 100 17 5 = $15.
Comments: There are several possible variations. The first two equations could be
subtracted to eliminate c, the denominator cleared by multiplication to obtain 15a
2b = 0, and this can be solved parametrically. The matrix method may be used, but
it is unwieldy simply because the particular solution obtained will involve multiplying
by 300, and finding the right value for the parameter will involve unnecessarily large
numbers.

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