Question

Write whether the square of any positive integer can be of the form 3m+2 , where m is a natural number . Justify your answer ?

Answer 1

No.

Justification:

Let a be any positive integer. Then by Euclid’s division lemma, we have

a = bq + r, where 0 ≤ r < b

For b = 3, we have

a = 3q + r, where 0 ≤ r < 3 ...(i)

So, The numbers are of the form 3q, 3q + 1 and 3q + 2.

So, (3q)2 = 9q2 = 3(3q2)

= 3m, where m is a integer.

(3q + 1)2 = 9q2 + 6q + 1 = 3(3q2 + 2q) + 1

= 3m + 1,

where m is a integer.

(3q + 2)2 = 9q2 + 12q + 4,

which cannot be expressed in the form 3m + 2.