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pieceofmoon
If (3^4n) +1 is divided by 10, can the remainder be 0?

a) n=2m+1, m is a positive integer
b) n> 4


If (3^4n) +1 is divisible by 10, then (3^4n) must have 9 in the units place (i.e. 9, 19, 29, etc.)

Let 4n = x. So 3^x must have 9 in the units place.

The units digits for exponents of 3 are as follows:
x units digit of 3^x
1 3
2 9
3 7
4 1
5 3
6 9

Notice the units digit of 3^x will always be the same as 3^(x+4)
Therefore, in order to have 9 be the units digit of 3^x, x must be divisible by 2, but not by 4. x must also be positive or else 3^x can never be an integer with 9 in the units place

Since 4n will be a multiple of 4 for any integer n, the only way for 3^4n to have 9 in the units place is for n to be a fraction.

Statement (1) tells us that n=2m + 1 where m is a positive integer. Therefore n must be a positive integer. Therefore 4n will be divisible by 4 and 3^4n will have 1 in the units place instead of 9.
In which case (3^4n) +1 will never be divisible by 10.

Statement (2) basically only tells us that n is positive and thus is insufficient.

The answer is A.



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