Tuesday, 23 June 2015

elementary number theory - Solving a system of equations using modular arithmetic modulo 5



Give the solution to the following system of equations using modular arithmetic modulo 5:




4x+3y=0(mod5)
2x+y3(mod5)




I multiplied 2x+y3(mod5) by 2, getting 4x2y6(mod5).




6(mod5)4(mod5)



Then I added the two equations:




4x+3y0(mod5)
4x2y4(mod5)




This simplifies to y4(mod5).




I then plug this into the first equation: 4x+3(4)=0(mod5)



Wrong work:




Thus, x=3.
But when I plug the values into the first equation, I get 2(3)+4.
What am I doing wrong?





EDIT:



Revised work:




x = -3 \pmod{5} = 2 \pmod{5}.
Now when I plug the values into the first equation, I get 2(2) + 4 \equiv 8 \pmod{5} \equiv 3 \pmod{5}.



Answer



Sign error on substitution, it should be x\equiv -3\pmod{5}.




You had 4x+(3)(4)\equiv 0, that is, 4(x+3)\equiv 0. From this we get x+3\equiv 0, so x\equiv -3\pmod{4}.



Negative numbers are sometimes troublesome, so we may wish to rewrite as x\equiv 2\pmod{5}.


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