Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
Calculate, with proof, the last digit of

33333 3^{3^{3^{3^{3}}}}

Solution

Solution:
When 33 is raised to the successive powers 1,2,3,4,1, 2, 3, 4, \ldots, the units digits are 3,9,7,1,3, 9, 7, 1, \ldots From then on, since the digit 11 has been reached, the units digits will repeat in this cycle of four elements. So it is necessary to find the remainder when
n4=3333 n_{4} = 3^{3^{3^{3}}}
is divided by 44.
When powers of 33 are divided by 44, the remainders are 3,1,3, 1, \ldots Here the number 11 appears after two steps, and the remainders therefore repeat in a two-element cycle. So it is necessary to find the remainder when
n3=333 n_{3} = 3^{3^{3}}
is divided by 22.
But n3n_{3} is clearly odd, so n4n_{4} has a remainder of 33 when divided by 44 and the original number n5n_{5} has a last digit of 77.

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