In 1907 the University of Gttingen offered the Wolfskehl Prize of 100,000 marks to anyone who could

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In 1907 the University of Göttingen offered the Wolfskehl Prize of 100,000 marks to anyone who could prove Fermat’s last theorem, which seeks any replacements for x, y, and z such that xn + yn = zn (where n is greater than 2 and x, y, and z are counting numbers). In 1937 the mathematician Samuel Drieger announced that 1324, 731, and 1961 solved the equation. He would not reveal n—the power—but said that it was less than 20. That is,

1,324" + 731" = 1,961"


However, it is easy to show that this cannot be a solution for any n. See if you can explain why by investigating some patterns for powers of numbers ending in 4 and 1.

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