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Number theory Difficulty 2.7 Junior Find the answer

How many of the 20 perfect squares 12,22,32,,192,2021^{2}, 2^{2}, 3^{2}, \ldots, 19^{2}, 20^{2} are divisible by 9?

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

A perfect square is divisible by 9 exactly when its square root is divisible by 3. In other words, n2n^{2} is divisible by 9 exactly when nn is divisible by 3. In the list 1,2,3,,19,201,2,3, \ldots, 19,20, there are 6 multiples of 3. Therefore, in the list 12,22,32,,192,2021^{2}, 2^{2}, 3^{2}, \ldots, 19^{2}, 20^{2}, there are 6 multiples of 9.

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