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Exercise 342Number theory › CongruencesHigh schoolAdded 31 Oct 2026

The last digit of 7^2026

#congruences#periodicity

Statement

What is the last digit of 720267^{2026}?

Hint

Write out the last digits of the first few powers of 77 and look for a cycle.

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Solution

The last digits of 71,72,73,747^1,7^2,7^3,7^4 are 7,9,3,17,9,3,1, and 74≡1(mod10)7^4\equiv1\pmod{10}, so the pattern repeats with period 44.

Since 2026=4⋅506+22026=4\cdot506+2,
72026=(74)506⋅72≡49≡9(mod10).7^{2026}=\left(7^4\right)^{506}\cdot7^2\equiv49\equiv9\pmod{10}.

The last digit is 99.