Problems

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Prove that the sum of two consecutive numbers is always odd.

Show algebraically that the sum of two odd numbers is even.

Show that the sum of any \(100\) consecutive numbers is a multiple of \(50\) but not a multiple of \(100\).

Alice sums \(n\) consecutive numbers, not necessarily starting from \(1\), where \(n\) is a multiple of four. An example of such a sum is \(5+6+7+8\). Can this sum ever be odd?

Show that the difference between two consecutive square numbers is always odd.

Let \(n\) be a natural number and \(x=2n^2+n\). Prove that the sum of the square of the \(n+1\) consecutive integers starting at \(x\) is the sum of the square of the \(n\) consecutive integers starting at \(x+n+1\).

For example, when \(n=2\), we have \(10^2+11^2+12^2=13^2+14^2\)!

Find the contrapositive of the statement: “If in every school there is a class with at least \(20\) students, then there is a school with at least \(10\) students".

Show that if \(a\) and \(b\) are numbers, then \(a^2-b^2=(a-b)\times (a+b)\).

Show that if \(x,y,z\) are distinct nonzero numbers such that \(x+y+z = 0\), then we have \[\left(\frac{x-y}{z}+\frac{y-z}{x}+\frac{z-x}{y}\right)\left(\frac{z}{x-y}+\frac{x}{y-z}+\frac{y}{z-x}\right) = 9.\]

The Chinese remainder theorem is a fundamental result in number theory that allows one to decompose congruence problems to into simpler ones. The theorem says the following.

Suppose that \(m_1,m_2\) are coprime (i.e: they have no prime factors in common) natural numbers and \(a_1,a_2\) are integers. Then there is a unique integer \(x\) in the range \(0\leq x \leq m_1m_2-1\) such that \[x \equiv a_1 \pmod{m_1} \quad \text{ and } \quad x \equiv a_2 \pmod{m_2},\] where the notation \(x\equiv y \pmod{z}\) means that \(x-y=kz\) for some integer \(k\). Prove the Chinese remainder theorem using the pigeonhole principle.