Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 6.3 National Olympiad Prove it Italy

Problem:

A positive integer mm is called a zero-bearer if there exists a positive integer kk such that
- kk is a perfect square,
- kk is a multiple of mm,
- the decimal expression of kk contains at least 2021 digits 0, but the last digit (the rightmost one) is different from 0.
Determine all zero-bearer integers.

Solution

Solution:

A positive integer mm is a zero-bearer if and only if mm is not divisible by 1010.

Necessary condition
If mm is a multiple of 1010, then mm cannot be a zero-bearer, since every multiple of m2m^{2} will necessarily end with at least two digits 00.

Sufficient condition
We show that, if mm is not a multiple of 1010, then it is a zero-bearer. To this end, consider, for every positive integer aa, the number
k=(10a+1)2m2=102am2+210am2+m2=10am2(10a+2)+m2. k = (10^{a} + 1)^{2} m^{2} = 10^{2a} m^{2} + 2 \cdot 10^{a} m^{2} + m^{2} = 10^{a} \cdot m^{2} (10^{a} + 2) + m^{2}.
Written in this way, the first addend is a multiple of 10a10^{a}, hence its decimal expression ends with aa digits 00. If we denote by MM the number of digits of m2m^{2}, and set a=2021+Ma = 2021 + M, then we are sure that the decimal expression of kk will end with the MM digits of m2m^{2}, preceded by 20212021 digits 00. Moreover the units digit of kk will be different from 00, as required.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from it; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.