What is the greatest prime factor of \(4^{17} - 2^{28}\)?

A. 2
B. 3
C. 5
D. 7
E. 11

I have a hard time ignoring that 2^28 and trusting that breaking down 63 into its prime factors will give me the right answer.

Is there a hard and fast rule for why you can forget about 2^28 and trust that the 7 derived from 63 is correct?
_________________

I see. So essentially any time that you have an expression where all of the bases are prime, you can assume that the highest base would be the greatest prime factor?

For example, the expression \(7^7 * 13^3 * 17\) would have 17 as the greatest prime factor. Correct?
_________________

I'm happy to help with this.

We know 4 = 2^2, so 4^17 = (2^2)^17 = 2^(2*17) = 2^34

That takes advantage of a law of exponents that says (a^n)^m = a^(n*m)

So, 4^17 - 2^28 = 2^34 - 2^28 = 2^(28 + 6) - 2^28 = (2^28)*(2*6) - 2^28 = (2^6 - 1) *(2^28)
= (64 - 1)*(2^28) = 63*(2^28)

The prime factors of 63 are 3*3*7, so the largest prime factor is 7, answer choice D.

Here's a blog you may find helpful.
http://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-math-factors/

Does all that make sense? Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Mike
_________________

Let's simplify (4)^17-2^28
={(2)^2}^17-(2)^28
=(2)^34-(2)^28
=(2)^28{(2)^6-1}
=(2)^28{64-1}
=(2)^28{63}
=(2)^28{3x3x7}

clearly 7
_________________

I don't get the transition here... what's the process involved that these two equal one another??

First of all 4^17 = (2^2)^17 = 2^34

So, 4^17 - 2^28 = 2^34 - 2^28
= 2^28(2^6 - 1) [factored out 2^28]
= 2^28(2^3 + 1)(2^3 - 1) [factored again]
= 2^28(8 + 1)(8 - 1) [evaluated]
= 2^28(9)(7) [evaluated]
= 2^28(3)(3)(7)

So, as you can see, the greatest prime factor is 7

Answer = D

Cheers,
Brent
_________________

Hi,
you are wrong in the highlighted portion--
\(\frac{4^{17}}{4^{14}}= 4^{17-14} =4^3\)
\(4^{17} - 4^{14} = 4^{14}(4^3-1) = 4^{14} *(64-1) = 4^{14}*63= 4^{14}*7*9..\)
so 7 is the answer..
You can not subtract the way you have done, it can be done ONLY if two terms are being divided as shown above..

a simpler examplewill be
\(2^3 -2^1\).. as per you it will be\(2^2=4.\).
BUT \(2^3-2^1=8-2=6..\)
hope it helps
_________________

Why is it (2^6-1)?

We need to determine the greatest prime factor of 4^17 – 2^28. We can start by breaking 4^17 into prime factors.

4^17 = (2^2)^17 = 2^34

Now our equation is as follows:

2^34 – 2^28

Note that the common factor in each term is 2^28; thus, the expression can be simplified as follows:

2^28(2^6 – 1)

2^28(64 – 1)

2^28(63)

2^28 x 9 x 7

2^28 x 3^2 x 7

We see that the greatest prime factor must be 7.

Answer: D
_________________