Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / ia / Paper 4 / 6E / i

Suppose two base-p expansions represent the same nonnegative integer. Pad the shorter one by trailing zero digits so that both have the same length. Reducing modulo $p$ shows that their first digits satisfy $k_0\equiv k_0^{\prime }(\mathrm{mod}p)$. Since both digits lie between $0$ and $p-1$, they are equal as integers.

Subtract that common digit and divide by $p$. The remaining equality is an equality of two base-p expansions with one fewer digit. Repeating this argument shows that every pair of corresponding digits agrees. Equivalently, repeated Euclidean division recovers the digits as remainders. The digits are unique up to padding by zeroes. The finite nonnegative-digit representation presupposes $k\ge 0$; a negative integer has no such expansion.