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What is the remainder when 2^70+3^70 is divided by 13

PLS, I need it for homework which is due tomorrow.

1 Answer

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ap−1≡1 (mod p) .

In our case, we can use this to deduce the following:

212≡1 (mod 13) and 312≡1 (mod 13)

First, let’s check the power of 2:

212≡1 (mod 13), thus (212)6≡272≡16≡1 (mod 13).

We just barely got past the power of 70. If we could find a number n such that 2∗n≡1 (mod 13), we could reduce the exponent. Luckily, it’s not too hard to find one such number, after all, 2∗7=14 and 14≡1 (mod 13). So:

272≡1 (mod 13)→270∗2∗2≡1 (mod 13)

270∗2∗7∗2∗7≡7∗7 (mod\13)

270≡49≡10 (mod 13)

We can use a similar process for 3 to find that370≡9∗9≡81≡3 (mod 13)

Finally, 270+370≡10+3≡13≡0 (mod 13)

User Sudhir Panda
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