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jmc

number theory junior

Problem

Natasha has more than \1\ worth of dimes. When she puts her dimes in stacks of 3, she has 1 left over. When she puts them in stacks of 4, she has 1 left over. When she puts them in stacks of 5, she also has 1 left over. How many dimes does Natasha have?
Solution
Let be the number of dimes Natasha has. We know that . The stacking data can be rephrased as Notice that any number such that solves this system. (The Chinese Remainder Theorem tells us that 1 is the only residue class modulo 60 that solves all of these equivalences.) Therefore is between 10 and 100 and solves this system.
Final answer
61