Mathematics Magazine

ISSN: 0025-570X (Print) 1930-0980 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/umma20

Squared Primes Modulo 24

Roger B. Nelsen

To cite this article: Roger B. Nelsen (2020) Squared Primes Modulo 24, Mathematics Magazine,
93:3, 228-228, DOI: 10.1080/0025570X.2020.1736877

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/0025570X.2020.1736877

Published online: 20 May 2020.

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228 MATHEMATICS MAGAZINE

Squared Primes Modulo 24

R O G E R B. N E L S E N
Lewis & Clark College
Portland, OR 97219
nelsen@lclark.edu

Let p be a prime greater than or equal to 5. Then p equals 6n − 1 or 6n + 1 for some

positive integer n. But the square of such a number is 1 more than a multiple of 24, as
the following figures illustrate. Here, Tk denotes the triangular number 1 + 2 + · · · + k
for k ≥ 1 and T0 = 0.

The left and right, respectively, illustrate the identities

(6n − 1)2 = 24n2 + 24Tn−1 + 1 and (6n + 1)2 = 24n2 + 24Tn + 1.

Hence, we have the following theorem:

Theorem. If p ≥ 5 is prime, then p 2 ≡ 1 (mod 24).
The theorem clearly also holds for composite p odd and not a multiple 3. That is,
for p ≡ ±1 (mod 6).

Summary. We show visually that the square of a prime greater than or equal to 5 is congruent to 1 modulo 24.

ROGER B. NELSEN (MR Author ID 237909) is a professor emeritus at Lewis & Clark College, where he
taught mathematics and statistics for 40 years.

Math. Mag. 93 (2020) 228. doi:10.1080/0025570X.2020.1736877 

c Mathematical Association of America
MSC: 97F60, 11A07, 11A41