2009 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 21
Problem
What is the remainder when is divided by 8?
Solution
Solution 1
The sum of any four consecutive powers of 3 is divisible by and hence is divisible by 8. Therefore
is divisible by 8. So the required remainder is . The answer is .
Solution 2
We have . Hence for any we have , and then .
Therefore our sum gives the same remainder modulo as . There are terms in the sum, hence there are pairs , and thus the sum is .
Solution 3
We have the formula for the sum of a finite geometric sequence which we want to find the residue modulo 8. Therefore, the numerator of the fraction is divisible by . However, when we divide the numerator by , we get a remainder of modulo , giving us .
See also
2009 AMC 10B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 20 |
Followed by Problem 22 | |
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