Does base matter?

In base 10, 5 divides 30.

In base _ _ , 5 divides 30 too.

15 11 13 12 14

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3 solutions

Marta Reece
Jun 28, 2017

30 30 in base n n is equal to 3 n 3n .

To get an integer n n , 3 n 3n has to be equal to a number divisible by 3 3 (as well as by 5 5 as stated in the problem).

3 n 3n needs to be larger than 30 30 , since all potential bases are larger than 10 10 .

The first number divisible by both 5 5 and 3 3 and larger than 30 30 is 45 45 .

3 n = 45 3n=45 from which n = 15 n=\boxed{15}

Adams Ayoade
Jun 28, 2017

5 is divisible by numbers that ends with 0 or 5. Clearly from the options, 5 < 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Therefore 5 remains 5 when converted to base ten from any of the options given. However, 30 > 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Therefore converting to base ten would involve expansion by the powers of base. Hence base15 as it is the only option that gives a number that ends with 5, which is therefore divisible by 5.

We note that 3 0 b 5 b = 3 10 b 10 5 10 \dfrac {30_b}{5_b} = \dfrac {3_{10}b_{10}}{5_{10}} , where b b denotes the number base. Since b > 5 b >5 , 5 b = 5 10 5_b = 5_{10} . 3 0 b 30_b is divisible by 5 b 5_b only if b b is divisible by 5, therefore, it is divisible when b = 5 , 10 , 15 , b=5, 10, \boxed{15},…

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