2 1 ! + 2 ! + 3 ! + … + 1 0 0 !
What is the last digit of the number above?
This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try
refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and,
finally, (c)
loading the
non-javascript version of this page
. We're sorry about the hassle.
If we divide 1 ! + 2 ! + 3 ! + … + 1 0 0 ! by 4 then we get the remainder 1 , so, the answer is 2 1 = 2
Good. For clarity, you should explain why you could calculate the remainder so easily.
How do you calculate the remainder?
For 4 ! and larger, all the terms will be divisible by 4 . 2 ! + 3 ! is divisible by 4 . Therefore, the remainder is 1 ! , or 1 .
Based on the observation, power of two's have period of 4 in its last digit 2 , 4 , 8 , 6 . Thus, as 4 ∣ n ! for n ≥ 4 , we only need to count 1 ! + 2 ! + 3 ! ≡ 1 ( m o d 4 ) , which means the answer is 2 .
Good! Can you generalize this? What is the last two digits of 2 raised to the power of k = 1 ∑ n k ! for some large enough n ? How about last three digits? And so on?
Problem Loading...
Note Loading...
Set Loading...
If m ≡ n ( m o d 4 ) for two positive integers m and n , then 2 m ≡ 2 n ( m o d 1 0 ) .
Now 4 ∣ n ! for n ≥ 4 . Thus
2 1 ! + 2 ! + . . . + 1 0 0 ! ≡ 2 1 ! + 2 ! + 3 ! = 2 9 ≡ 2 ( m o d 1 0 )
To find the last three digits, for example, we would have to analyze the exponent modulo 100 since 1 0 0 = ϕ ( 1 2 5 ) . If m ≡ n ( m o d 1 0 0 ) for two integers m ≥ 3 and n ≥ 3 , then 2 m ≡ 2 n ( m o d 1 0 0 0 ) , since they are congruent both modulo 125 and modulo 8.
Now 1 0 0 ∣ n ! for n ≥ 1 0 , so that
2 1 ! + 2 ! + . . . + 1 0 0 ! ≡ 2 1 ! + 2 ! + . . . + 9 ! ≡ 2 1 3 ≡ 1 9 2 ( m o d 1 0 0 0 )