Asked by Laura

Prove: 3/ a(2a^2 + 7)

Answers

Answered by Damon
Huh?
Answered by Laura
Yes, you are to prove that 3 divides [(a)(2a^2+7)] probably by using the greatest common divisor.
Answered by Damon
Sorry, can not help
Answered by bobpursley
There must be more. For instance, is a is 1, 3 is not a divisor, if a=0, 3 is not a divisor.

Answered by Laura
the exact problem states:
for an arbitrary integer a, verify that 3/a(2a^2+7). This is a problem out of a number theory book included in the section involving gcd.
Answered by Damon
actually a = 1 does work
a(2*1+7) = 9

a = 2
2(2*4+7) = 30

a = 3
3(2*9+7) obviously works but 75

a=4
4(2*16+7) = 4*39 etc
however I do not know how to do the proof
Answered by Damon
try recurssion ?
(a+1)(2(a+1)^2+7)
(a+1)(2 a^2 + 4 a + 9)
= 2 a^3 + 6 a^2 + 13 a + 9
subtract original 2a^3 +7a
and get
6 a^2 + 6 a + 9
so
the difference between each successive value of a is divisible by 3

Answered by Damon
Is that form of proof allowed?
Answered by Count Iblis
You can also work Mod 3:

a(2 a^2 + 7) = a(-a^2 + 1)

Then, if a = 0, the expression is zero. Else, we have that by Fermat's little theorem that a^2 = 1. So, working Mod 3, the expression is always equal to zero, which means that the original expression (not reduced Mod 3) is always divisible by 3.
Answered by Laura
thanks, I'll try these methods
Answered by Count Iblis
Because is such a small number you don't have to use Fermat's little theorem. You can simply say that Mod 3, a can be 0, 1 or 2. Then we have 1^2 = 1 and 2^2 = 4 = 1. So, if a is not zero, a^2 = 1.
Answered by olivia
convert
36in.=_ft
Answer
If a is any intgre
Answer
If a is any integer a can be one of the a=3n, a=3n+1 or a=3n+2. In each case you will get 3 as a factor and so...
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