2008 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 15

The following problem is from both the 2008 AMC 12A #15 and 2008 AMC 10A #24, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Let $k={2008}^{2}+{2}^{2008}$ . What is the units digit of $k^2+2^k$ ?

$\mathrm{(A)}\ 0\qquad\mathrm{(B)}\ 2\qquad\mathrm{(C)}\ 4\qquad\mathrm{(D)}\ 6\qquad\mathrm{(E)}\ 8$

Solution

$k \equiv 2008^2 + 2^{2008} \equiv 8^2 + 2^4 \equiv 4+6 \equiv 0 \pmod{10}$ .

So, $k^2 \equiv 0 \pmod{10}$ . Since $k = 2008^2+2^{2008}$ is a multiple of four and the units digit of powers of two repeat in cycles of four, $2^k \equiv 2^4 \equiv 6 \pmod{10}$ .

Therefore, $k^2+2^k \equiv 0+6 \equiv 6 \pmod{10}$ . So the units digit is $6 \Rightarrow D$ .

2008 AMC 12A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 14	Followed by Problem 16
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All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions

2008 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 23	Followed by Problem 25
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All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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2008 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 15

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