2010 AMC 12A Problem 23

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 23 of the 2010 AMC 12A, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2010 AMC 12A solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:modular arithmeticChinese Remainder Theoremtrailing zeros

Difficulty rating: 2390

23.

The number obtained from the last two nonzero digits of 90!90! is equal to n.n. What is n?n?

1212

3232

4848

5252

6868

Solution:

The number of trailing zeroes in 90!90! is 905+9025=21.\left\lfloor\dfrac{90}{5}\right\rfloor+\left\lfloor\dfrac{90}{25}\right\rfloor=21. Let N=90!1021.N=\dfrac{90!}{10^{21}}.

There are still more than two factors of 22 left after removing 1021,10^{21}, so N0(mod4).N\equiv0 \pmod4.

Let AA be the product of factors of 90!90! not divisible by 5,5, and let BB be the product of the factors divisible by 5.5. Grouping residues modulo 2525 gives A1(mod25)A\equiv1\pmod{25} and B5211(mod25).\dfrac{B}{5^{21}}\equiv-1\pmod{25}.

Therefore 90!5211(mod25).\dfrac{90!}{5^{21}}\equiv-1\pmod{25}. Since 2212(mod25),2^{21}\equiv2\pmod{25}, N=90!5212211312(mod25).N=\dfrac{90!}{5^{21}\cdot2^{21}}\equiv-13\equiv12\pmod{25}.

The number congruent to 0(mod4)0\pmod4 and 12(mod25)12\pmod{25} is 12(mod100),12\pmod{100}, so the last two nonzero digits form 12.12.

Thus, A is the correct answer.

Problem 23 in Other Years