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Exercise 1089Combinatorics › Pigeonhole principleL1Added 3 Nov 2026

Eratosthenes via pigeonhole

#pigeonhole#primes#sieve

Statement

Show that among any n+1n+1 primes, some two differ by a multiple of nn.

Hint

Residues mod nn.

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Solution

Residues. Primes have residues in {0,1,…,n−1}\{0,1,\ldots,n-1\} (n values).

Pigeonhole. n+1n+1 primes, nn residues: two share a residue.

Conclusion. Their difference is divisible by nn.