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When \sqrt{10x-1} is rational,the last digit is always 2.
Also ,x must be even.
This would be because the of 10x+1 always ends with a 1,
Some basic number theory says that sqrt(10x+1) ends with a 9 or 1.
If 9,the expression is equivalent to
(9+1)^(10x+1)-(9-1)^(10x+1)
=0-8^(2x+1)
=2 (mod 10)
If 1,
(1+1)^(10x+1)-(1-1)^(10x+1)
=2^(2x+1)-0
=2-0
=2 mod(10).
Hope this answers your question.
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This discussion board is a place to discuss our Daily Challenges and the math and science related to those challenges. Explanations are more than just a solution — they should explain the steps and thinking strategies that you used to obtain the solution. Comments should further the discussion of math and science.
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Comments
What do you mean? Is x supposed to be a fixed integer?
Or is the last digit of that expression independent of x? What if x is a real number?
When \sqrt{10x-1} is rational,the last digit is always 2. Also ,x must be even. This would be because the of 10x+1 always ends with a 1, Some basic number theory says that sqrt(10x+1) ends with a 9 or 1. If 9,the expression is equivalent to (9+1)^(10x+1)-(9-1)^(10x+1) =0-8^(2x+1) =2 (mod 10) If 1, (1+1)^(10x+1)-(1-1)^(10x+1) =2^(2x+1)-0 =2-0 =2 mod(10). Hope this answers your question.
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Not true, The last digit of (91+1)91−(91−1)91 is 8
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I did state that the above is true if 10x+1is rational. But now you mentioned it,I will try to generalize the cases. Thanks anyway.
20x
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