1988 AIME Problems/Problem 9
Problem
Find the smallest positive integer whose cube ends in 888.
Solution
A little bit of checking tells us that the units digit must be 2. Now our cube must be in the form of ; using the binomial theorem gives us
. Since we are looking for the tens digit,
we get
. This is true if the tens digit is either
or
. Casework:
: Then our cube must be in the form of
. Hence the lowest possible value for the hundreds digit is
, and so
is a valid solution.
: Then our cube is
. The lowest possible value for the hundreds digit is
, and we get
, which is our minimum.
The answer is .
See also
1988 AIME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 8 |
Followed by Problem 10 | |
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 | ||
All AIME Problems and Solutions |