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Number theory Difficulty 4.4 AIME Find the answer United States

How many different remainders can result when the 100th power of an integer is divided by 125?

Pick one

Solution

Write N=5k+rN = 5k + r for r=0,1,2,3r = 0, 1, 2, 3, or 44. If r=0r = 0, then N=5kN = 5k and N100N^{100} is divisible by 125125, so the remainder is 00. If r=1,2,3r = 1, 2, 3, or 44, then N2=25k2+10rk+r2=5m+1N^2 = 25k^2 + 10rk + r^2 = 5m + 1 for some integer mm. Now use the Binomial Theorem:
N100=(N2)50=(5m±1)50=(5m)50±50(5m)49+(502)(5m)48±±(5047)(5m)3+(5048)(5m)2±50(5m)+1. \begin{aligned} N^{100} = (N^2)^{50} = (5m \pm 1)^{50} = (5m)^{50} &\pm 50(5m)^{49} + \binom{50}{2}(5m)^{48} \pm \dots \\ &\pm \binom{50}{47}(5m)^3 + \binom{50}{48}(5m)^2 \pm 50(5m) + 1. \end{aligned}

Let ϕ(n)\phi(n) be the number of positive integers less than nn that are relatively prime to nn; this is Euler's totient function. Then ϕ(125)=5352=100\phi(125) = 5^3 - 5^2 = 100. By Euler's Totient Theorem, if aa is not a multiple of 55, then a1001(mod125)a^{100} \equiv 1 \pmod{125}. If aa is a multiple of 55, then a1000(mod125)a^{100} \equiv 0 \pmod{125}. Therefore there are only 22 possible remainders: 00 and 11.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.