The Beauty of Number Theory
My dear student, welcome to a journey through the elegant world of number theory. Today, we are going to unravel a problem that might look like a mountain of algebra at first glance, but is actually a beautifully structured puzzle.
We are asked to find the remainder when (2020+x)2022 is divided by 8, given that x leaves a remainder of 3 when divided by 4. Let's peel back the layers together.
Decoding the Clue
First, let's translate the condition x≡3(mod4) into the language of algebra. By the division algorithm, we can write x=4k+3, where k is an integer.
Now, look at our base: (2020+x). If we substitute our expression for x, we get 2020+4k+3.
Notice that 2020 is a multiple of 4 (2020=4×505). So, our base becomes 4(505)+4k+3, which simplifies to 4(505+k)+3.
Let's define P=505+k. Now, our expression is simply (4P+3)2022.
The Binomial Transformation
We need to find the remainder when this is divided by 8. Expanding (4P+3)2022 directly would be a nightmare.
But here is the JEE-style trick: rewrite 3 as 4−1. Our base becomes 4P+4−1, which is 4(P+1)−1.
Let A=P+1. Now, the expression is (4A−1)2022. Why is this so much better? Because the Binomial Theorem loves having a 1 or a −1 in the base!
The Binomial Magic
Let's expand (4A−1)2022 using the Binomial Theorem:
Our expansion looks like this:
(02022)(4A)2022−(12022)(4A)2021+⋯−(20212022)(4A)1+(20222022)(−1)2022
Look closely at the terms. Any term containing (4A)k where k≥2 is a multiple of 16 (since 42=16). Because 16 is a multiple of 8, all these terms are perfectly divisible by 8 and effectively become zero in our modulo 8 world.
The Final Reveal
We are left with only the last two terms:
−(20212022)(4A)1+(20222022)(−1)2022
The first of these is −2022×4A=−8088A. Since 8088 is divisible by 8 (8088=8×1011), this term is also a multiple of 8.
Finally, we have the last term: (20222022)(−1)2022. Since 2022 is an even number, (−1)2022=1.
Thus, the entire expression is some multiple of 8 plus 1. The remainder is 1. Isn't it satisfying how the complexity just melts away?