2009 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 21

Revision as of 12:24, 9 December 2019 by Williamgolly (talk | contribs) (Solution)

Problem

What is the remainder when $3^0 + 3^1 + 3^2 + \cdots + 3^{2009}$ is divided by 8?

$\mathrm{(A)}\ 0\qquad \mathrm{(B)}\ 1\qquad \mathrm{(C)}\ 2\qquad \mathrm{(D)}\ 4\qquad \mathrm{(E)}\ 6$

Solution

Solution 1

The sum of any four consecutive powers of 3 is divisible by $3^0 + 3^1 + 3^2 +3^3 = 40$ and hence is divisible by 8. Therefore

$(3^2 + 3^3 + 3^4 + 3^5) + \cdots + (3^{2006} + 3^{2007} + 3^{2008} + 3^{2009})$

is divisible by 8. So the required remainder is $3^0 + 3^1 = \boxed {4}$. The answer is $\mathrm{(D)}$.

Solution 2

We have $3^2 = 9 \equiv 1 \pmod 8$. Hence for any $k$ we have $3^{2k}\equiv 1^k = 1 \pmod 8$, and then $3^{2k+1} = 3\cdot 3^{2k} \equiv 3\cdot 1 = 3  \pmod 8$.

Therefore our sum gives the same remainder modulo $8$ as $1 + 3 + 1 + 3 + 1 + \cdots + 1 + 3$. There are $2010$ terms in the sum, hence there are $2010/2 = 1005$ pairs $1+3$, and thus the sum is $1005 \cdot 4 = 4020 \equiv 20 \equiv \boxed{4} \pmod 8$.


Solution 3

We see the sum is $3^2010-1$ from base number arithmetic. $3^2010=(3^2)^1005=1^1005=1 mod 8$ Then 1-1=0mod 8$ -Williamgolly

I sillied pls correct me

See also

2009 AMC 10B (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 20
Followed by
Problem 22
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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