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2023 AMC 10B Problem 8

Problem 8 of 25EasierNumber Theory

What is the units digit of 20222023+20232022?2022^{2023} + 2023^{2022}?

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Solution

Only the units digits matter. Powers of 22 cycle 2,4,8,62, 4, 8, 6 with period 4,4, and 20233(mod4),2023 \equiv 3 \pmod 4, so 202220232022^{2023} ends in 8.8. Powers of 33 cycle 3,9,7,1,3, 9, 7, 1, and 20222(mod4),2022 \equiv 2 \pmod 4, so 202320222023^{2022} ends in 9.9. Add them: 8+9=17,8 + 9 = 17, so the units digit is 7.7. Therefore, the answer is A.

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Concepts: units digit · modular arithmetic · pattern recognition

Problem text and solution from the LIVE past-contest archive. See also the AoPS wiki page for community solutions.