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Difficulty: 3/102025 IOQM 2025 (Q9)

What is the remainder when is divided by ?

Options:

  • A.

    6

  • 3

  • C.

    5

  • D.

    4

Guide / Hint

Hint 1: Dividing by 10 is the same as finding the last digit (unit digit) of .

Hint 2: Compute the unit digits of the first few powers of 3: and find the repeating cycle.

Hint 3: The cycle is of length 4. Find the remainder of the exponent 2025 divided by 4, and use it to select the digit.

Solution

Step 1: Finding the remainder when a number is divided by is equivalent to finding its unit digit. We analyze the powers of modulo :

Step 2: The unit digits follow a repeating cycle of length : .

Step 3: Determine the remainder when the exponent is divided by the cycle length :

Step 4: The remainder of corresponds to the first element in the cycle:

So the remainder is 3.

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    2025 IOQM 2025 Q9 - Olympiad Math Olympiad Question | Leminno