Browse · MATH
Printjmc
number theory senior
Problem
A particular number written in base 3 requires three digits (). When the number is written in base 3 and 4, the digits are the reverse of each other. What is this number expressed in base 10?
Solution
Let represent the three-digit number in base 3, where , and each represent a digit 0, 1 or 2. The place values in base 3 are 9, 3 and 1, so the base-ten value of is , which can be written as . This same value is in base 4, which we can write as . Equating these two expressions, we get . We can simplify this to . Now, there are only three digits to try for each letter. It turns out that , so the base-three number is and the base-four number is . The base-ten value is . To confirm this answer, we check the base-four value:
Final answer
22