MH1812 Tutorial

Chapter 1: Elementary Number Theory

Q1: Show that 2 is the only prime number which is even.

Solution: Take p a prime number. Then p has only 2 divisors, 1 and p. If p is even,
then one of its divisors has to be 2, thus p = 2.

Q2: Show that if n2 is even, than n is even, for n an integer.

Solution: An integer n is either even or odd, i.e., with the form 2k or 2k + 1, for some
integer k. When n = 2k + 1, n2 = (2k + 1)2 = 4k 2 + 4k + 1 = 2(2k 2 + 2k) + 1, which is
odd. While n = 2k, n2 = 4k 2 . The case where n2 is even is thus when n = 2k.
√
Q3: The goal of this exercise is to show that 2 is irrational. We provide a step by step
way of doing so.
√ √
1. Suppose by contradiction that 2 is rational, that is 2 = m n
, for m and n integers
with no common factor. Show that m has to be even.
√
Solution: Since 2 = m n
, hence m2 = 2n2 , which is even. According to the conclu-
sion of Q2, m must be even.
2. Compute m2 , and deduce that n has to be even too, a contradiction.
Solution: Assume m = 2k for some integer k, then m2 = 4k 2 = 2n2 , hence n2 = 2k 2 ,
so n is even due to the conclusion from Q2. This contradicts the assumption that m
and n have no common divisor because 2 divides both.

Q4: Show the following two properties of the integers modulo n:

1. (a mod n) + (b mod n) ≡ a + b (mod n).

Solution: Suppose a mod n = a′ , that is a = qn + a′ , and b mod n = b′ , that is
b = rn + b′ , for some integers q, r. Then

(a mod n) + (b mod n) = a′ + b′

and
a + b ≡ (qn + a′ + rn + b′ ) ≡ a′ + b′ (mod n).
The result follows by combining the two equations.

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 2. (a mod n) · (b mod n) ≡ a · b (mod n).
Solution: Suppose a mod n = a′ , that is a = qn + a′ , and b mod n = b′ , that is
b = rn + b′ , for some integer q, r. Then

(a mod n) · (b mod n) = a′ · b′

and

a · b ≡ (qn + a′ ) · (rn + b′ ) ≡ qrn2 + qnb′ + rna′ + a′ b′ ≡ a′ b′ (mod n).

The result follows by combining the two equations.

Q5: Compute the addition table and the multiplication tables for integers modulo 4.
Solution: We represent integers modulo 4 by the set of integers {0, 1, 2, 3}. Then

+ 0 1 2 3 × 0 1 2 3
0 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 2 3 0 1 0 1 2 3
2 2 3 0 1 2 0 2 0 2
3 3 0 1 2 3 0 3 2 1

p(p+1)
Q6: Show that 2
≡ 0 (mod p) for p an odd prime.
Solution: When p is an odd prime, it can be written in the form of 2k + 1 for some
positive integer k. Hence p(p+1)
2
= p(2k+2)
2
= p(k + 1) a multiple of p, the conclusion
follows.

Q7: Find the last digit of 79999 .

Solution: The question asks us to find 79999 mod 10. Observe that 74 mod 10 = 1 and
9999 mod 4 = 3, the answer to the problem is

73 mod 10 = 343 mod 10 = 3.

Q8: Find the last digit of 89999 .

Solution: There are many different simple ways to do this. The following are just two
examples.
[Solution 1:] The question asks us to find 89999 mod 10 = 29999·3 mod 10. Observe that
25 mod 10 = 2, hence if m = 5q + r, then 2m ≡ 2q+r (mod 10). Applying this rule

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 repeatedly, we see that

29999·3 mod 10 = 229997 mod 10

= 25999+2 mod 10 = 26001 mod 10
= 21200+1 mod 10 = 21201 mod 10
= 2240+1 mod 10 = 2241 mod 10
= 248+1 mod 10 = 249 mod 10
= 29+4 mod 10 = 213 mod 10
= 22+3 mod 10 = 25 mod 10
= 2.

[Solution 2:] Observe that (i) 8n is an even integer for any integer n > 0 and so is
8n mod 10; (ii) 6k mod 10 = k for k = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8; (iii) 84 mod 10 = 6; (iv) 62 mod 10 =
6 and thus 6n mod 10 = 6 for all n ≥ 2. Therefore

89999 mod 10 = (84 )m 83 mod 10 = 6m 83 mod 10 = 6 · 83 mod 10 = 83 mod 10 = 2,

where m is an integer such that 9999 = 4m + 3.

Q9: Consider the following sets S, with respective operator ∆.

1. Let S be the set of odd integers and ∆ be the multiplication. Is S closed under ∆?
Justify your answer.
Solution: Take two odd integers 2p + 1 and 2q + 1, where p and q are integers. Then

(2p + 1)(2q + 1) = 2(2pq + p + q) + 1

which is an odd number. Thus the answer is Yes.

2. Let S be the set of nonzero rational numbers Q \ {0} and ∆ be the division. Is S
closed under ∆? Justify your answer.
Solution: Take two nonzero rational numbers m/n and m′ /n′ , Then

m . m′ mn′
=
n n′ nm′
which is a rational number. Thus the answer is Yes.
3. Let S be the set of natural numbers N and ∆ be the subtraction. Is S closed under
∆? Justify your answer.
Solution: The subtraction of two natural numbers does not always give a natural
number, for example
5 − 10 = −5
and −5 is not natural, hence S is not closed under subtraction.

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4. Let S be the set of irrational numbers and ∆ be the addition. Is S closed under ∆?
Justify your answer.
Solution: The addition of two irrational numbers does not always give an irrational
number, for example √ √
2 + (− 2) = 0
√
and 0 is not irrational. Thus S is not closed under addition.
√ Note we know 2 is
irrational
√ (see Q3), and we are using the fact that − 2 is irrational
√ too. Indeed, if
m −m
− 2 were rational, then it could be represented as n , then 2 = n which would
√
be rational too, contradicting the fact that 2 is irrational.