Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Find the answer

3320n33 \cdot 20 n is a natural number, when substituting into the algebraic expression n3nn^{3}-n to calculate its value, four students came up with the following four results, the correct result can only be

Pick one

Solution

[Solution 1] We only need to consider the last digit of the calculation result (the first five digits are the same except for (C)), i.e., consider the influence of the last digit of nn on the result:
\begin{tabular}{c|cccccccccc}
\hline Last digit of nn & 0 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 \\
\hline Last digit of n3n^{3} & 0 & 1 & 8 & 7 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 3 & 2 & 9 \\
\hline Last digit of n3nn^{3}-n & 0 & 0 & 6 & 4 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 6 & 4 & 0 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

From the table above, we can see that the last digit of n3nn^{3}-n can only be 0,4,60, 4, 6.
Clearly, the correct answer can only be (A) or (C).
Furthermore, since n3n=(n1)n(n+1)n^{3}-n=(n-1) n(n+1), it is divisible by 3. A number divisible by 3 has the sum of its digits as a multiple of 3.
Notice that 3+8+8+9+4+4=363+8+8+9+4+4=36, while
3+8+8+9+5+4=37. 3+8+8+9+5+4=37.

Therefore, the correct choice is (A).
[Solution 2] Since n3n=(n1)n(n+1)n^{3}-n=(n-1) n(n+1), then 6(n3n)6 \mid (n^{3}-n).
And 63889446 \mid 388944,
while 388954=388944+10388954=388944+10, and 388948=388944+4388948=388944+4,
so 6388954,63889446 \nmid 388954, 6 \nmid 388944.
Also, 388945 is an odd number, so 63889456 \nmid 388945.
In summary, the correct result can only be 388944.
Therefore, the correct choice is (A).

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.