Question: a) Let a be an integer. What values can a 2 take on, mod 8? b) Prove that, when a, b, and c are integers,

a) Let a be an integer. What values can a2take on, mod 8?

b) Prove that, when a, b, and c are integers, it's impossible that a2+ b2+ c2is congruent to 7 (mod 8). (Thus, there exist infinitely many positive integers that cannot be written as sums of three squares.)

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