2018 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 11

Revision as of 14:25, 16 February 2018 by Arpitr20 (talk | contribs) (Solution 1)

Which of the following expressions is never a prime number when $p$ is a prime number?

$\textbf{(A) } p^2+16 \qquad \textbf{(B) } p^2+24 \qquad \textbf{(C) } p^2+26 \qquad \textbf{(D) } p^2+46 \qquad \textbf{(E) } p^2+96$

Solution 1

Because squares of a non-multiple of 3 is always $1\mod 3$, the only expression is always a multiple of $3$ is $\boxed{\textbf{(C) } p^2+26}$. This is excluding when $p=0\mod 3$, then $p^2+26=35$ which is still composite.