[Math] Fibonacci numbers divisible by $9$

combinatoricsdiscrete mathematicselementary-number-theoryfibonacci-numbers

The $n$th Fibonacci number $F_n$ is defined as follows,$$F_1=F_2=1\mbox{ and } F_{n+2}=F_{n+1}+F_{n}\mbox{ for } n\geq 1$$
I want to know how many of the first $1000$ Fibonacci numbers are divisible by $9$ ? Is it possible to classify all Fibonacci numbers which are divisible by $9$ ?

I have searched in Google and found in an article that says every $12$th Fibonacci number is divisible by $9$ but no proof is given. Are these the only such numbers ? Any idea for the soloution would be helpful.

Best Answer

Looking at the Fibonacci numbers $\bmod\ 9$ yields $$ \color{#C00000}{0,1,}1,2,3,5,8,4,3,7,1,8,\color{#0000FF}{0,8,}\dots\tag{1} $$ Since the blue terms are the negative of the red terms, we get $$ F_{n+12}\equiv-F_n\pmod{9}\tag{2} $$ Since the only Fibonacci number in the first $12$ that is $0\bmod9$ is $F_0$, we get $$ F_n\equiv0\pmod{9}\Longleftrightarrow n\equiv0\pmod{12}\tag{3} $$ Therefore, $84$ of the first $1000$ Fibonacci numbers are divisible by $9$ if you start with $F_0$, but if you start with $F_1$, only $83$ of the first $1000$ are.