Arithmetic · real student question

Find a three-digit number A such that the digit sum of A is divisible by 4, the digit sum of A + 2 is divisible by 4, and A is greater than 200 and less than 400.

Question

Find a three-digit number AA with all three properties:

  • the sum of the digits of AA is divisible by 44;
  • the sum of the digits of A+2A+2 is divisible by 44;
  • 200<A<400200<A<400.

Give any one such number.

Step-by-step solution

  1. Set up the general form. With 200<A<400200<A<400 the hundreds digit hh is 22 or 33. Write A=habA=\overline{hab} with digit sum S=h+a+bS=h+a+b.

  2. Work out the effect of adding 2 on the digit sum.

    • No carry (b7b\le 7): SS+2S\to S+2.
    • Units carry (b{8,9}b\in\{8,9\}, a8a\le 8): the units digit drops by 88 and the tens digit rises by 11, so SS7S\to S-7.
    • Double carry (b{8,9}b\in\{8,9\} and a=9a=9): the tens digit also rolls over, so SS16S\to S-16.
  3. Eliminate the no-carry case. If 4S4\mid S then S+2S+2 leaves remainder 22, never 00. So b{8,9}b\in\{8,9\} is forced. In the single-carry case SS7S\to S-7, and S7S-7 is a multiple of 44 only if S3(mod4)S\equiv 3\pmod 4 — which contradicts 4S4\mid S. So the double carry is the only survivor, requiring a=9a=9 as well: SS16S\to S-16, which stays a multiple of 44 automatically.

  4. Impose the digit-sum condition with a = 9. We need h+9+b0(mod4)h+9+b\equiv 0\pmod 4 with b{8,9}b\in\{8,9\}:

    • h=2h=2: 11+b011+b\equiv 0 needs b=9b=9, giving S=20S=20;
    • h=3h=3: 12+b012+b\equiv 0 needs b=8b=8, giving S=20S=20.
  5. List and verify.

    2992+9+9=20,3013+0+1=4 299\to 2+9+9=20,\quad 301\to 3+0+1=4\ \checkmark
    3983+9+8=20,4004+0+0=4 398\to 3+9+8=20,\quad 400\to 4+0+0=4\ \checkmark

    A brute-force scan of 201201 to 399399 returns exactly these two numbers, so either one answers the question.

Answer

A{299, 398}A\in\{299,\ 398\}

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