Complete Solutions 2.

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Complete Solutions to Exercises 2.1

1. (a) We can write 56 in its prime decomposition as

56  8  7  23  7
(b) Is 57 prime?
No because 57  3  19 so it is composite and this 3  19 is the prime
decomposition of 57.
(c) Earlier in the text we found 100  22  52 . What is the prime factors of 200?
Multiply 100  22  52 by 2 which gives

200  2  22  52  23  52
(d) What are the prime factors of 360?
Dividing 360 into smaller numbers and using the rules of indices we have:
360  36  10
 62  2  5
 2  3  2  5  22  32  2  5  2 3  32  5
2

(e) This number 1001 is harder to deal with. Clearly it is not even so 2 is not a
factor of this number. Does the next prime 3 go into 1001?
No. [There is an easy check to see if a number is divisible by 3 – add the digits
and if their (digits) sum is divisible by 3 then the initial number is also divisible
by 3.]
Clearly 5 is not a factor of 1001. What about the next prime 7?
Yes 7 is a factor of 1001 because 7  143  1001 . Now we need to find the factors
of 143. There is no point testing the first three primes 2, 3 and 5 because if they
were factors of 143 then they would be factors of 1001 which they are not.
The next prime 7 is not a factor of 143. What about 11?
11 is a factor of 143 because 11  13  143 . Hence the prime factors of 143 are 11
and 13. Therefore we have
1001  7  143  7  11  13

2. (a) 53 is a prime so the prime decomposition of 53 is 53.

(b) Clearly

530  10  53  2  5  53
(c) We need to factorize 1988. Since it is even it has a factor of 2:

1988  2  994
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994 is also even so

1988  2  2  497
Now 497 is not even and if we try the next prime factor 3 we find that 3 is not a
factor of 497. There is no point trying 5 because the last digit is not 5 or 0. The
next prime to trial is 7:
497  7  71
71 is a prime number so our prime decomposition of 1988 is given by
1988  2  2  7  71  2 2  7  71
(d) We are given the number 666. Clearly 2 is a factor of 666 so

666  2  333
Of course 3 is a factor of 333 so we have

666  2  3  111
3 is also a factor of 111 therefore
666  2  3  3  37  2  3 2  37
Since 37 is prime so we have prime decomposition of 666 is 2  3 2  3 7 .
(e) We need to find the prime factors of 2021. It is not an even number so it does
not have a factor of 2. Additionally the next prime 3 is not a factor of 2021.
Clearly 5 is not a factor of 2021. The primes after 5 are
7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41
None of these are factors of 2021. However the next prime 43 is a factor because
2021  43  47
47 is also a prime so this 43  47 is the prime decomposition of 2021.

 
3. (a) We are asked to prove gcd a, p  1 given that p a.

Proof.

 
Suppose gcd a, p  g  1 .

Since g p and g  1 so g  p because we are given that p is prime and it

only has the factors 1 and p. From the definition of gcd we have


g a because gcd a, p  g 
Therefore p a . This is impossible because we are given p a . Hence our

  
supposition gcd a, p  g  1 must be wrong so gcd a, p  1 . 
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 Complete Solutions 2.1 Page 3 of 7

 
(b)We are asked to prove gcd p, q  1 given p and q are distinct primes.

Proof.

We are given that p and q are distinct primes so p q . Applying the result of

the previous question:

 
gcd a, p  1 given that p a

With a  q we have gcd p, q  1 .  

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n
4. We are asked to show that the smallest factor (larger than 1) of p is p.
Proof.
We can write
p n  p
 p  p
n copies

n
The factors of p are p, p 2 , p 3 , , p n 1, p n . Since p is prime (>1) so amongst
n
this list, p is the smallest integer which is a factor of p . Hence we have our
result.
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 
5. (i) We are required to prove gcd p n , q n  1 given p and q are distinct primes.
How do we prove this?
By contradiction.
Proof.
We are given that p and q are distinct primes so by the result of question 3 we

 
have gcd p, q  1 .

 
Suppose gcd p n , q n  g  1 . Then g p n and the only factors of p n are
p, p 2 , p 3 , , p n 1, p n
Therefore g must be one of these. Without loss of generality assume
g  pk where k is an integer between 1 and n
k
Since p p so p g .
 Complete Solutions 2.1 Page 4 of 7

 
In the above we have gcd p n , q n  g so g q n . We have p g therefore p q n .
By Corollary (2.4):

If p, q 1, q 2 , q 3 , , q n are all primes and p q1  q2  q 3   qn then p  qk .

We have p q . This is impossible because p and q are distinct primes.

Hence we have our required result by contradiction because our supposition was

 
gcd p n , q n  g  1 which is wrong and gcd p n , q n  1 .  
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(ii) We need to prove that if p and q are distinct primes then gcd p , q  n m
1
for any natural numbers m and n.
Proof. Like part (i).

6. (a) We are asked to prove consecutive integers have no prime factors in common.
Proof.
Suppose the prime p is common factor to both integers n and n  1 . Then
p n and p n  1
By Linear Combination Theorem (1.3):

If a b and a c then a bx  cy  for any integers x and y.

We have
p n  1  n  p 1

Since p is prime so p 1 . We have a contradiction, so our supposition that p is

a common prime to n and n  1 is incorrect. Hence there is no common prime

factor of two consecutive integers.
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(b) See question 18(a) of Exercises 1.1.

7. Using the product definition in each case:

6
(a) 2 j   2  4  6  8  10  12  46 080
j 1
6 j 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 3 5 45
(b)  2   2  2  2  2  2  2  2  1  2  2  2  3 
j 1 4
 Complete Solutions 2.1 Page 5 of 7

3 5  i 
  is slightly more complex:
(c) Evaluating the given product   
j 1 i 1  j 

3 5 i  3          
     1    2    3    4    5 
   
j 1 i 1  j 
   j   j   j   j 
j 1  j  
1  2   5    1   2  5   1   2   5 
                               
   1   2   2   2   3   3   3 
1  1 
 1  3  5   1   2   4   5 
 1  2    5     1     2           1      
   2   2   2   3   3   3   3 
120  
15/4 40/81
15 40 2000
 120   
4 81 9

8. (a) Clearly the first part 3 3  5 is correct. Of course 3 5 and

3 3 . The error is 3 is not a prime because from the definition of prime it

has to be an integer greater than 1.

(b) What is the error in the following:

6 2  5  7     
gcd 6, 2  gcd 6, 5  gcd 6, 7  1 ?   
 
The error is gcd 6, 2  2  1 . This occurs because 6 is a composite number

not a prime.

9. We are asked to show that p, p  2 are relatively prime.

Proof.
Suppose d is a common factor of the given integers p, p  2 . Then

d p, and d p  2

By Linear Combination Theorem (1.3):

If a b and a c then a bx  cy  for any integers x and y.

We have d p  2  p   d 2 . The only positive factors of 2 is 1 and 2.

Since we are given that p is an odd prime so d  1 . Hence p, p  2 have no

common factor greater than 1. (They are relatively prime.)

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 Complete Solutions 2.1 Page 6 of 7

10. We are asked to show that one of p, p  2 or p  4 is divisible by 3.

Proof.

If the prime p is divisible by 3 then we are done. Let 3 p then by the Division

Algorithm we have
p  3q  1 or p  3q  2

If p  3q  1 then p  2  3q  1  2  3q  3 which implies 3  p  2 .

If p  3q  2 then p  4  3q  2  4  3q  6  3 q  2 which implies

3 p  4 .
This completes our proof that one of p, p  2 or p  4 is divisible by 3.
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11. To prove a mathematical statement is false you only need to produce one
counter example.
(a) The following:
If p is prime then p  2 is prime.
Is false because let p  2 then p  2  4 which is not prime.
(b) The integer n 2  1 is not prime for n  8 because
82  1  65  5  13
(c) The integer n 2  1 is not composite or in other words prime only if n  2 :

22  1  3
(d) If we substitute n  4 into 4n 2  2n  1 gives the composite number
4  4   2  4  1  57  3  19 .
2

(e) N  2  3  5  7   P   1 is not necessarily prime because

N  2  3  5  7  11  13  1  30 031  59  509

12. We are asked to prove   p   p  1 where p is a prime number.

Proof.
Let p be a prime number then the only positive factors of p are 1 and p.
Therefore   p   p  1 .
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 Complete Solutions 2.1 Page 7 of 7

13. We are required to show that for a prime number p we have   p   2 .

Proof.
By the definition of prime number, we have the only factors of p are p and 1.
Hence   p   2 .
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