MATH 1200 - ASSIGNMENT 4

PAULOS HAILESELASSIE

(a) Proof that for all integers n, if 5 divides n2 then 5 divides n:

Assume that 5 does not divide n. Then n can be written in the form of n = 5k + r, where
r is not divisible by 5. Then n2 can be expressed as:

n2 = (5k + r)2 (1)

n2 = 25k 2 + 10kr + r2 (2)

2 2
Since r is not divisible by 5, r is not divisible by 5. Hence for n to be divisible by 5, 5
must divide 10kr + 25k 2 .

We know that 5 divides 5k, so we can write 10kr + 25k 2 as 5k(2r + 5k). Since 5 divides
5k, we only need to prove that 5 divides 2r + 5k. We can check the following cases:

If r = 1, then 25k 2 + 10k + 1 which is not divisible by 5.

If r = 2, then 25k 2 + 20k + 4 which is not divisible by 5.

If r = 3, then 25k 2 + 30k + 9 which is divisible by 5.

If r = 4, then 25k 2 + 40k + 16 which is not divisible by 5.

Since there is only one case in which 2r + 5k is divisible by 5, we can conclude that if 5
divides n2 , then 5 must divide n.

Date: March 30, 2023.

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(b) Proof that there do not exist integers a and b for which 5 = a/b:
√
Assume that there exist integers a and b, such that 5 = ab . We can also assume that a
and b have no common factors. Then, squaring both sides of the equation, we get:

a2
5= (3)
b2

Multiplying both sides by b2 , we get:

5b2 = a2 (4)

Therefore, we know that a2 is divisible by 5. By part (a) of this question, we also know that
if 5 divides a2 , then 5 divides a. Thus, we can write a = 5k for some integer k. Substituting
this into the equation above, we get:

5b2 = (5k)2 (5)

Simplifying, we get:

b2 = 5k 2 (6)

Therefore, we know that b2 is divisible by 5. By part (a), we know that if 5 divides b2 ,

then 5 divides b. But this contradicts our assumption√that a and b have no common factors.
Hence, there do not exist integers a and b such that 5 = a/b.
 MATH 1200 - ASSIGNMENT 4 3
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(c) Conclusion that 5 is irrational:
√
From part
√ (b), we know that there do not exist integers a and b such that 5 = a/b.
Therefore, 5 is not a rational number