Electronic Proceedings of the Twenty-second Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics

Chicago, Illinois, March 11-14, 2010

Paper C014

This is an electronic reprint, reproduced by permission of Pearson Education Inc. Originally appeared in the Proceedings of the Twenty-second Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, ISBN 978-0-321-74614-6, Copyright (C) 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.


Solving Quadratic Congruences Modulo A Prime On The TI-89

Joseph Fadyn


Southern Polytechnic State University

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ABSTRACT

We consider the problem of solving the quadratic congruence: ax2 + bx + c = 0 (mod p) where p is an odd prime number, using the TI-89. The familiar quadratic formula may be used if we interpret the formula correctly. We will discuss the components needed to use the quadratic formula in this situation: modular exponentiation, modular inverses, finding square roots modulo a prime p, and implementing these on the TI-89.

Keyword(s): number theory, TI-89