The discriminant of a quadratic equation with integer coefficients cannot be which of the following numbers?
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Relevant wiki: Quadratic Diophantine Equations - Modular Arithmetic Considerations
If the equation is a x 2 + b x + c = 0 , the discriminant is b 2 − 4 a c . If b is even, the discriminant is divisible by 4 . If b is odd, it can be expressed as 2 m + 1 , and the discriminant will be 4 m 2 + 4 m + 1 − 4 a c , so it has remainder 1 when divided by 4 .
Therefore, for an integer D to be the discriminant of a quadratic equation with integer coefficients, it is necessary that D ≡ 0 , 1 ( m o d 4 ) . Thus 2 3 cannot be a discriminant.