Linear congruence
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A Linear Congruence is a congruence mod p of the form where , , , and are constants and is the variable to be solved for.
Solving
Note that not every linear congruence has a solution. For instance, the congruence equation has no solutions. A solution is guaranteed iff is relatively prime to . If and are not relatively prime, let their greatest common divisor be ; then:
- if divides , there will be a solution
- if does not divide , there will be no solution
Example
Problem
Given , find .
Solution 1
, so . Thus, . Note that we can divide by because and are relatively prime.
Solution 2
Multiply both sides of the congruence by to get . Since and , .