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Number theory Difficulty 2.4 Junior Find the answer

How many of the four integers 222,2222,22222222, 2222, 22222, and 222222222222 are multiples of 3?

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

We could use a calculator to divide each of the four given numbers by 3 to see which calculations give an integer answer. Alternatively, we could use the fact that a positive integer is divisible by 3 if and only if the sum of its digits is divisible by 3. The sums of the digits of 222,2222,22222222, 2222, 22222, and 222222222222 are 6,8,106, 8, 10, and 12, respectively. Two of these sums are divisible by 3 (namely, 6 and 12) so two of the four integers (namely, 222 and 222222) are divisible by 3.

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