Exercise · ZW-CHINESE-REMAINDER-THEOREM-007 · ★★☆ Intermediate

Solve \(x\equiv 1 \pmod 5\) and \(x\equiv 2 \pmod 7\). What is the smallest positive integer \(x\) satisfying both?

Choose one option.

Show answer
  • B. \(16\)

Explanation

The number \(16\) satisfies \(16\equiv 1\pmod 5\) and \(16\equiv 2\pmod 7\). The option \(30\) satisfies the second congruence but not the first, since \(30\equiv 0\pmod 5\).

Study Elementary number theory in ZWMath →

Review the concept: Chinese remainder theorem

The Chinese remainder theorem states that a system of linear congruences with pairwise coprime moduli has a unique solution modulo the product of those moduli.

\[x \equiv a_i \pmod{m_i},\ i=1,\dots,k \Rightarrow x \equiv x_0 \pmod{m_1\cdots m_k}\]

More practice problems: chinese remainder theorem

← ZW-CHINESE-REMAINDER-THEOREM-006 ZW-CHINESE-REMAINDER-THEOREM-008 →