Carcass wrote:
What is the remainder when 7^9 - 4 is divided by 7?
A)1
B)2
C)3
D)4
E)5
KEY STRATEGY: If we take 7^9 - 4 and add zero to it, the value doesn't change.
We're going to add zero by subtracting 3 and adding 3 at the same time.
So, 7^9 - 4 = 7^9 - 4 - 3 + 3
=
7^9 - 7 + 3=
7(7^8 - 1) + 3=
7(some integer) + 3As we can see, our initial number can be rewritten as
3 more than some multiple of 7.
So, if we divide that number by 7, the remainder will be
3Answer: C