Created by T.

Madas

NUMBER
THEORY

Created by T. Madas
 Created by T. Madas

Question 1 (**)
Use Euclid's algorithm to find the Highest common factor of 560 and 1169 .

FP4-M , 7

Question 2 (**)

f ( n ) = n2 + n + 2 , n ∈ » .

Show that f ( n ) is always even.

MP1-B , proof

Question 3 (**)
Prove that when the square of a positive odd integer is divided by 4 the remainder is
always 1 .

MP1-F , proof

Created by T. Madas
 Created by T. Madas

Question 4 (**)
Use Euclid's algorithm to find the Highest common factor of 3059 and 7728 .

FP4-P , 161

Question 5 (**)
Prove that the square of a positive integer can never be of the form 3k + 2 , k ∈ » .

SYN-B , proof

Created by T. Madas
 Created by T. Madas

Question 6 (**)
Show that a 3 − a + 1 is odd for all positive integer values of a .

MP1-Q , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 7 (**+)
When a , a ∈ » , is divided by b , b ∈ » , the quotient is 20 and the remainder is 17 .

a) Find the remainder when a is divided by 5 .

Suppose that when a positive integer is divided by 8 the remainder is 6 , and when
the same positive integer is divided by 18 the remainder is 3 .

b) Determine whether the positive integer of part (b) exists.

FP4-N , 2 , no such integer

Created by T. Madas
 Created by T. Madas

Question 8 (**+)

f ( n ) ≡ n 2 + 4n + 3 , n ∈ » .

a) Given that n is odd show that f ( n ) is a multiple of 8 .

( )( )
g ( n ) ≡ n 2 + 15 n 2 + 7 , n ∈ » .

b) Given that n is odd show that g ( n ) is a multiple of 128 .

You may assume that the square of an odd integer is of the form 8k + 1 , k ∈ » .

proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 9 (***)

f ( n ) = 52 n − 1 , n ∈ » .

Without using proof by induction, show that f ( n ) is a multiple of 8 .

MP1-I , proof

Question 10 (***)
Bernoulli's inequality asserts that if a ∈ » , a > −1 and n ∈ » , n ≥ 2 , then

(1 + a )n > 1 + an .

Prove, by induction, the validity of Bernoulli's identity.

SYNF-A , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 11 (***)
When some positive integer N is divided by 4 , the quotient is 3 times as large as the
remainder.

Determine the possible values of N .

SYNFA , N = {13, 26, 39}

Question 12 (***+)
Use proof by exhaustion to show that if m ∈ » and n ∈ » , then

m 2 − n 2 ≠ 102 .

MP1-Q , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 13 (**+)
It is given that for a ∈ » , b ∈ » , c ∈ » ,

a 2 + b 2 + c 2 = 116 .

a) Prove that a , b and c are all even.

b) Determine the values of a , b and c .

a = 8, b = 6, c = 4 in any order

Created by T. Madas
 Created by T. Madas

Question 14 (***+)

c c +1
b b +1

a a +1

The figure above shows two right angled triangles.

• The triangle, on the left section of the figure, has side lengths of

a , b and c ,

where c is the length of its hypotenuse.

• The triangle, on the right section of the figure, has side lengths of

a + 1 , b + 1 and c +1 ,

where c + 1 is the length of its hypotenuse.

Show that a , b and c cannot all be integers.

MP1-O , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 15 (***+)
When 165 is divided by some integer the quotient is 7 and the remainder is R .

Determine the possible values of R .

FP4-Q , R = {4, 11, 18}

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 16 (***+)
It is given that a and b are positive integers, with a > b .

Use proof by contradiction to show that if a + b is a multiple of 4 , then a − b

MP2-U , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 17 (***+)
When a positive integer N is divided by 4 the remainder is 3 .

When N is divided by 5 the remainder is 2 .

Show that the remainder of the division of N by 20 is 5 .

proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 18 (***+)

a) Show that 940 + 340 + 6 is a multiple of 8 .

b) Show further that 340 + 2 divides 940 + 340 − 2 .

SYNF-K , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 19 (***+)
Suppose that when a positive integer is divided by 6 the remainder is 4 , and when
the same positive integer is divided by 12 the remainder is 8 .

a) Determine whether such positive exists.

Suppose next that when a positive integer is divided by 6 , the quotient is q and the
remainder is 1. When the square of the same positive integer is divided by q , the
quotient is 984 and the remainder is 1.

b) Determine whether the positive integer of part (b) exists.

FP4-O , no such integer , 163

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 20 (***+)
In the following question A , B and C are positive odd integers.

Show, using a clear method, that …

a) … A2 + B 2 + C 2 + 5 is a multiple of 8 .

( )
b) … A2 A2 + 6 − 7 is divisible by 128 .

c) … A4 − B 4 is a multiple of 16 .

SYNF-B , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 21 (****)
It is given that

a 2 + b2 = c 2 , a ∈ » , b ∈ » .

Show that a and b cannot both be odd.

SP-N , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 22 (****)
Let a ∈ » with 1 a ∉ » .
5

a) Show that the remainder of the division of a 2 by 5 is either 1 or 4 .

( )
b) Given further that b ∈ » with 1 b ∉ » , deduce that 1 a 4 − b 4 ∈ » .
5 5

FP4-R , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 23 (****)
It is given that k is a positive integer.

a) If k − 2 divides k 2 + 4 , determine the possible values of k .

It is further given that a and b are positive integers.

b) Show that 8a 2 − b 2 cannot equal 2017 .

SYNF-N , k = 3, 4, 6, 10

Created by T. Madas
 Created by T. Madas

Question 24 (****)
Prove by induction that if n ∈ » , n ≥ 3 , then

2
3n > ( n + 1) .

SYNF-N , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 25 (****)

i. The function f is defined as

( )
f ( n ) ≡ n n3 + 2 n + 1 , n ∈ » .

Show that f is even for all n ∈ » .

ii. The positive integer k divides both 2a + 5b and 3a + 7b , where a ∈ » , b ∈ » .

Show that k must then divide both a and b .

SYNF-D , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 26 (****)
It is given that k is a positive integer.

a) If k − 7 divides k + 5 , determine the possible values of k .

The second part of this question is unrelated to the first part.

b) By showing a detailed method, find the remainder of the division of 626 + 266
by 5 .

SYNF-H , k = 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 19 , 2

Created by T. Madas
 Created by T. Madas

Question 27 (****)

i. The function f is defined as

( )
f ( n ) ≡ n 2 + n ( n + 5) , n ∈ » .

Show that f is multiple of 6 for all n ∈ » .

ii. The function g is defined as

g ( m, n ) ≡ m3n − mn3 , m ∈ » , n ∈ » .

Show that g is divisible by 3 for all m ∈ » , n ∈ » .

SYNF-F , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 28 (*****)
It is given that

( )
f ( m, n ) ≡ 2m m2 + 3n 2 ,

where m and n are distinct positive integers, with m > n .

3
By using the expansion of ( A ± B ) , prove that f ( m, n ) can always be written as the
sum of two cubes.

SPX-Q , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 29 (*****)
Prove that the sum of the squares of two distinct positive integers, when doubled, it
can be written as the sum of two distinct square numbers

SPX-I , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 30 (*****)
Show that the square of an odd positive integer greater than 1 is of the form

8T + 1 ,

where T is a triangular number.

MP1-S , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 31 (*****)
The product operator ∏ , is defined as
k

∏[
r =1
ur ] = u1 × u2 × u3 × u4 × ...× uk −1 × uk .

The integer Z is a square number and defined as

20
 r! 
Z=
∏
r =1
  , {n ∈ » :1 ≤ n ≤ 20} .
 n! 

By considering the terms inside the product operator in pairs, or otherwise, determine
a possible value of n .

You must show a detailed method in this question.

SPX-S , n = 10

Created by T. Madas
 Created by T. Madas

Question 32 (*****)
Prove by induction that if n ∈ » , n ≥ 3 , then

n
n n+1 > ( n + 1) ,

and hence deduce that if n ∈ » , n ≥ 3 , then

n n +1
n > n +1

SPX-C , proof

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 Created by T. Madas

Question 33 (*****)
It is given that 11a + 13b is a multiple of 13 − a , where a ∈ » , b ∈ » .

It is then asserted that (13 + a )(11 + b ) is also a multiple of 13 − a .

Prove the validity of this assertion.

SPX-E , proof

Created by T. Madas