7^20 is so big

Find the number of ordered pairs ( m , n ) (m,n) from the set of natural numbers from 1 to 20 such that 3 m + 7 n 3^m + 7^n which is divisible by 10.

This is not original.


The answer is 100.

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1 solution

Sean Sullivan
Jul 19, 2015

For 3 n , n = 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , . . . 3^{n}, n=1,2,3,4,... we have cycles of 3 , 9 , 7 , 1 m o d 10 3,9,7,1 \mod 10

Similarly for 7 m , m = 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , . . . 7^{m}, m=1,2,3,4,... we have cycles of 7 , 9 , 3 , 1 m o d 10 7,9,3,1 \mod 10

For any value of n n , therefore, there is a corresponding value of m m that would make 3 n + 7 m 0 m o d 10 3^{n}+7^{m}\equiv0 \mod10

Choose any value n n , one m m in each cycle of the powers of 7 7 will make the sum divisible by 10 10 , as there are 4 4 items in each cycle, 1 1 in every 4 4 values of m m is valid. There are 20 20 possible values for m m so 5 5 will work for each of the 20 20 values of n n , so the answer is 5 20 = 100 5*20=\boxed{100}

Perfect solution! Exactly the one I had in mind!+1

Adarsh Kumar - 5 years, 10 months ago

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