 Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/ia/paper-4/6e/a/ii/solution

Codex  0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25

Because

g cd (m, n) = 1

, choose

u, v \in Z

with

u m + v n = 1

c = a v n + b u m

satisfies

c \equiv a (mod m)

and

c \equiv b (mod n)

. Any two simultaneous solutions differ by a multiple of both coprime integers and hence by a multiple of

mn

The three congruences reduce to

x \equiv 2 (mod 5), x \equiv 3 (mod 7), x \equiv 1 (mod 3) .

The first two give

x \equiv 17 (mod 35)

; imposing the last gives

x \equiv 52 (mod 105) .

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