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kaliprasad
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Show that there is no integer a for which $a^2-3a -19$ is divisible by 289
[sp]Proof by contradiction: Suppose that $a^2-3a -19$ is divisible by $289 = 17^2$. Since $a^2-3a -19 = (a+7)^2 -17(a+4)$, it follows that $(a+7)^2$ must be divisible by $17.$ But $17$ is prime, and therefore $a+7$ must be divisible by $17.$ So $a+7 = 17k$ for some integer $k$. But then $$a^2-3a -19 = (17k-7)^2 - 3(17k-7) - 19 = 289(k^2-k) + 51,$$ which is clearly not a multiple of $289$.[/sp]kaliprasad said:Show that there is no integer a for which $a^2-3a -19$ is divisible by 289
kaliprasad said:Show that there is no integer a for which $a^2-3a -19$ is divisible by 289
To prove that $a^2-3a-19$ is not divisible by 289, we can use the method of contradiction. Assume that $a^2-3a-19$ is divisible by 289, which means that there exists an integer k such that $a^2-3a-19=289k$. Rearranging the equation, we get $a^2-3a-19-289k=0$. We can then use the quadratic formula to solve for a, and if we can show that a is not an integer, this will contradict our assumption and prove that $a^2-3a-19$ is not divisible by 289.
289 is a perfect square, as it can be written as 17^2. When trying to prove that an expression is not divisible by a number, it is often useful to use a perfect square as the divisor, as it simplifies the calculations and allows us to focus on the properties of the expression itself.
Yes, there are multiple methods that can be used to prove that $a^2-3a-19$ is not divisible by 289. Another approach is to use modular arithmetic, specifically the concept of congruence. We can show that $a^2-3a-19$ is not congruent to 0 (mod 289), which would prove that it is not divisible by 289.
No, there are no values of a that make $a^2-3a-19$ divisible by 289. This can be shown using either of the aforementioned methods - if we assume that there is a value of a that makes the expression divisible by 289, we can easily reach a contradiction.
Proving that $a^2-3a-19$ is not divisible by 289 is important because it helps us understand the properties of the expression and its relationship to 289. It also allows us to make conclusions about other similar expressions and their divisibility by 289. Furthermore, proving that an expression is not divisible by a certain number can also have practical applications, such as in cryptography and number theory.