What are the palindromic primes with an even number of digits?

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    2016
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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on identifying palindromic primes with an even number of digits, specifically highlighting the nature of palindromic numbers, which read the same forwards and backwards, such as 197791. Participants, including johng, greg1313, Deveno, kaliprasad, and Kiwi, successfully contributed solutions to the Problem of the Week (POTW). The conversation emphasizes the importance of mathematical problem-solving and community engagement in exploring prime numbers.

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Ackbach
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Here is this week's POTW:

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A palindromic number is one that is the same when written backwards (base 10) like 197791. Find all the palindromic primes that have an even number of digits.

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Remember to read the http://www.mathhelpboards.com/showthread.php?772-Problem-of-the-Week-%28POTW%29-Procedure-and-Guidelines to find out how to http://www.mathhelpboards.com/forms.php?do=form&fid=2!
 
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Congratulations to johng, greg1313, Deveno, kaliprasad, and Kiwi for their correct solutions! It's always nice to see a great level of participation. There were a number of good solutions, but I'll just post greg1313's:

Claim: all palindromic numbers with an even number of digits are divisible by $11$, hence the only prime palindromic number with an even number of digits is $11$.

Proof:

$10^n\equiv10\pmod{11}$ if $n$ is odd and $10^n\equiv1\pmod{11}$ if $n$ is even.

$10^{n-1}\cdot a+10^{n-2}\cdot b+10^{n-3}\cdot c+\dots+10^2\cdot c+10\cdot b+ a\equiv x\pmod{11}$

$10a+b+10c+\dots+c+10b+a\equiv x\pmod{11}$

$10(a+b+c\dots)+(a+b+c\dots)\equiv x\pmod{11}$

$(10+1)(a+b+c\dots)\equiv x\pmod{11}$

$11(a+b+c\dots)\equiv0\pmod{11}$

$\text{Q.E.D.}$
 

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