Thursday, 26 September 2013

elementary number theory - Proof: Given that x is a positive integer, prove...

Given that x is a positive integer, prove that f(x)=x2+x+1 will never be divisible by 5.



I've tried a contrapostive proof so far:
Assume f(x) is divisible by 5. Then, x2+x+1=5p for some integer p.



x(x+1)+1=5p



Since x(x+1) has to be even because an even number times an odd number if even, x(x+1) is odd. Thus, p is odd (the product of 5 and an odd number is an odd number). Thus:




x(x+1)+1=5(2n+1) for some integer n.



x2+x(10n+4)=0.



I need to show that x is NOT an integer, but I'm not sure how to proceed from here. Help?

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