Tutorial & Homework 5

MATS4217, Second Semester 2023-2024 (Week 5, 03 May)

Practice solving as many problems as possible.

From Dudley ch3 Ex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. (∗) Find all the integer solutions of x + y = 2, 3x − 4y = 5, and 15x + 16y = 17.

2. Find all the integer solutions of 2x + y = 2, 3x − 4y = 0, and 15x + 18y = 17.

3. (∗) Find the solutions in positive integers of x + y = 2, 3x − 4y = 5, and 6x + 15y = 51.

4. Find all the solutions in positive integers of 2x + y = 2, 3x − 4y = 0, and 7x + 15y = 51.

5. (∗) Find all the positive solutions in integers of

x+y +z = 31,
x + 2y + 3z = 41.

6. Find the five different ways a collection of 100 coins—pennies, dimes, and quarters—can be worth
exactly $4.99.

7. (∗) A man bought a dozen pieces of fruit—apples and oranges—for 99 cents. If an apple costs 3
cents more than an orange, and he bought more apples than oranges, how many of each did he buy?

8. The enrollment in a number theory class consists of sophomores, juniors, and backward seniors. If
each sophomore contributes $1.25, each junior $.90, and each senior $.50, the instructor will have a
fund of $25. There are 26 students; how many of each?

9. (∗) The following problem first appeared in an Indian book written around 850 AD. Three merchants
found a purse along the way. One of them said, “If I secure this purse, I shall become twice as rich
as both of you with your money on hand.” Then the second said, “I shall become thrice as rich as
both of you.” The third man said, “I shall become five times as rich as both of you.” How much did
each merchant have, and how much was in the purse?

10. A man cashes a check for d dollars and c cents at a bank. Assume that the teller by mistake gives
the man c dollars and d cents. Assume that the man does not notice the error until he has spent 23
cents. Assume further that he then notices that he has 2d dollars and 2c cents. Assume still further
that he asks you what amount the check was for. Assuming that you can accept all the assumptions,
what is the answer?

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 From Dudley ch5 Ex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. (∗†) Solve each of the following:

2x = 1 (mod 17), 3x = 1 (mod 17), 2x = 6 (mod 18), 40x = 777 (mod 1777)

2. Solve each of the following:

2x = 1 (mod 19), 3x = 1 (mod 19), 4x = 6 (mod 18), 20x = 984 (mod 1984)

3. (∗) Solve the systems

(a) x = 1 (mod 2), x = 1 (mod 3).

(b) x = 3 (mod 5), x = 5 (mod 7), x = 7 (mod 11).
(c) 2x = 1 (mod 5), 3x = 2 (mod 7), 4x = 3 (mod 11).

4. Solve the systems

(a) x = 1 (mod 2), x = 2 (mod 3).

(b) x = 2 (mod 5), 2x = 3 (mod 7), 3x = 4 (mod 11).
(c) x = 31 (mod 41), x = 59 (mod 26).

5. (∗) What possibilities are there for the number of solutions of a linear congruence (mod 20)?

6. Construct linear congruences modulo 20 with no solutions, just one solution, and more than one
solution. Can you find one with 20 solutions?

7. (∗) Solve 9x = 4 (mod 1453).

8. Solve 4x = 9 (mod 1453).

9. (∗) Solve for x and y:

(a) x + 2y = 3 (mod 7), 3x + y = 2 (mod 7).

(b) x + 2y = 3 (mod 6), 3x + y = 2 (mod 6).

10. Solve for x and y:

(a) x + 2y = 3 (mod 9), 3x + y = 2 (mod 9).

(b) x + 2y = 3 (mod 10), 3x + y = 2 (mod 10).

11. (∗) When the marchers in the annual Mathematics Department Parade lined up 4 abreast, there was
1 odd person; when they tried 5 in a line, there were 2 left over; and when 7 abreast, there were 3
left over. How large is the Department?

12. Find a multiple of 7 that leaves the remainder 1 when divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.

13. (∗) Find the smallest odd n, n > 3, such that 3|n, 5|n + 2, and 7|n + 4.

14. Find the smallest integer n, n > 2, such that 2|n, 3|n + 1, 4|n + 2, 5|n + 3, and 6|n + 4.

15. (∗†) Find a positive integer such that half of it is a square, a third of it is a cube, and a fifth of it is
a fifth power.

16. The three consecutive integers 48, 49, and 50 each have a square factor.

(a) Find n such that 32 |n, 42 |n + 1, and 52 |n + 2.

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 (b) Can you find n such that 22 |n, 32 |n + 1, and 42 |n + 2?

17. If x = r (mod m) and x = s (mod m + 1), show that

x = r (m + 1) − sm (mod m(m + 1)).

18. What three positive integers, upon being multiplied by 3, 5, and 7 respectively and the products
divided by 20, have remainders in arithmetic progression with common difference 1 and quotients
equal to remainders?

19. (∗†) Suppose that the moduli in the system

x = ai (mod mi ), i = 1, 2, ..., k

are not relatively prime in pairs. Find a condition that the ai ’s must satisfy in order that the system
have a solution.

20. How many multiples of b are there in the sequence a, 2a, 3a, ..., ba?

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 From Silverman pp 80-82 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11.1. (a) Find the value of ϕ(97).
(b) Find the value of ϕ(8800).
11.2. (a) If m ≥ 3, explain why ϕ(m) is always even.
(b) ϕ(m) is “usually” divisible by 4. Describe all the m’s for which ϕ(m) is not divisible by 4.
11.3. Suppose that p1 , p2 , ..., pr are the distinct primes that divide m. Show that the following formula for
ϕ(m) is correct.     
1 1 1
ϕ(m) = m 1 − 1− ··· 1 − .
p1 p2 pr
Use this formula to compute ϕ(1000000).
11.4. (cpt) Write a program to compute ϕ(n), the value of Euler’s phi function. You should compute ϕ(n)
by using a factorization of n into primes, not by finding all the a’s between 1 and n that are relatively
prime to n.
11.5. For each part, find an x that solves the given simultaneous congruences.
(a) x = 3 (mod 7) and x = 5 (mod 9)
(b) x = 3 (mod 37) and x = 1 (mod 87)
(c) x = 5 (mod 7) and x = 2 (mod 12) and x = 8 (mod 13)
11.6. Solve the 1700-year-old Chinese remainder problem from the Sun Tzu Suan Ching stated on page
80 of Silveman:
“We have a number of things, but we do not know exactly how many. If we count them by
threes, we have two left over. If we count them by fives, we have three left over. If we count
them by sevens, we have two left over. How many things are there? ”
11.7. A farmer is on the way to market to sell eggs when a meteorite hits his truck and destroys all of
his produce. In order to file an insurance claim, he needs to know how many eggs were broken. He
knows that when he counted the eggs by 2’s, there was 1 left over, when he counted them by 3’s,
there was 1 left over, when he counted them by 4’s, there was 1 left over, when he counted them
by 5’s, there was 1 left over, and when he counted them by 6’s, there was 1 left over, but when he
counted them by 7’s, there were none left over. What is the smallest number of eggs that were in
the truck?
11.8. (cpt) Write a program that takes as input four integers (b, m, c, n) with gcd(m, n) = 1 and computes
an integer x with 0 ≤ x < mn satisfying
x = b (mod m) and x = c (mod n).

11.9. In this exercise you will prove a version of the Chinese Remainder Theorem for three congruences.
Let m1 , m2 , m3 be positive integers such that each pair is relatively prime. That is,
gcd(m1 , m2 ) = 1 and gcd(m1 , m3 ) = 1 and gcd(m2 , m3 ) = 1.

Let a1 , a2 , a3 be any three integers. Show that there is exactly one integer x in the interval 0 ≤ x <
m1 m2 m3 that simultaneously solves the three congruences
x = a1 (mod m1 ), x = a2 (mod m2 ), x = a3 (mod m3 ).

Can you figure out how to generalize this problem to deal with lots of congruences
x = a1 (mod m1 ), x = a2 (mod m2 ), ··· , x = ar (mod mr )?
In particular, what conditions do the moduli m1 , m2 , ..., mr need to satisfy?
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11.10. What can you say about n if the value of ϕ(n) is a prime number? What if it is the square of a
prime number?

11.11. (a) Find at least five different numbers n with ϕ(n) = 160. How many more can you find?
(b) Suppose that the integer n satisfies ϕ(n) = 1000. Make a list of all of the primes that might
possibly divide n.
(c) Use the information from (b) to find all integers n that satisfy ϕ(n) = 1000.

11.12. Find all values of n that solve each of the following equations.

(a) ϕ(n) = n/2, (b) ϕ(n) = n/3, (c) ϕ(n) = n/6.

[Hint. The formula in Exercise 11.3 might be useful.]

11.13. (a) For each integer 2 ≤ a ≤ 10, find the last four digits of a1000 .
(b) Based on your experiments in (a) and further experiments if necessary, give a simple criterion
that allows you to predict the last four digits of a1000 from the value of a.
(c) Prove that your criterion in (b) is correct.