As a start it helps to convert the Fibonacci sequence into a sequence of remainders.

The remainders on division by 2 are : 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1

The remainders on division by 3 are : 1, 1, 2, 0, 2, 2, 1, 0, 1, 1, 2, 0

Each term is produced by adding together the two preceding terms, and keeping in mind that these are remainders after division.

So once a pair of consecutive terms appear a second time the sequence must repeat from then on.

The multiples of 2 (or 3) in the original occur where the term is zero in the remainders sequence.



Thank you Andrei from School No. 205 in Bucharest, Romania for taking this further with a more algebraic solution.

First I wrote the Fibonacci numbers up to f12 , as calculated from the recurrence relation in the problem. Here they are:
f0 =0, f1 =1, f2 =1, f3 =2, f4 =3, f5 =5, f6 =8, f7 =13, f8 =21, f9 =34, f10 =55, f11 =89, f12 =144 .



I observed that f3 , f6 , f9 and f12 are even. Up to here, fn is even when n is a multiple of 3. I must prove that such a pattern continues.

I also observed that f4 , f8 and f12 are multiples of 3. I could deduce that fn is a multiple of 3 when n is a multiple of 4.

Now, I must prove the conjectures that I observed. I shall prove them both by induction.

1) fn - even

f3 =2 as calculated before. Let p be a positive integer. I consider that f3p is even. I must prove that f3p+3 is also even. From the definition of the Fibonacci Sequence, I obtain:
f3p+3 = f3p+2 + f3p+1 =( f3p+1 + f3p )+ f3p+1 =2 f3p+1 + f3p .



Here, 2 f3p+1 is divisible by 2, and, from my hypothesis, f3p is also divisible by 2. So, f3p+3 is divisible by 2.

Hence, by the axiom of induction, fn is even if n is a multiple of 3.

2) fn - multiple of 3

Let q be a positive integer. I consider that f4q is a multiple of 3. I shall prove now that f4q+4 is a multiple of 3:
f4q+4 = f4q+3 + f4q+2 =( f4q+2 + f4q+1 )+ f4q+2 =2 f4q+2 + f4q+1 =2( f4q+1 + f4q )+ f4q+1 =3 f4q+1 + f4q .



In this case 3 f4q+1 is divisible by 3, and so is f4q (from my hypothesis). I must also say that f4 =3, which is a multiple of 3. Hence by the axiom of induction fn is a multiple of 3 if n is a multiple of 4.

Editor's note: We should still show that these are the only Fibonnaci numbers divisible by 3 to prove the 'only if' condition.

If any two consecutive Fibonacci numbers have a common factor (say 3) then every Fibonacci number must have that factor. This is clearly not the case so no two consecutive Fibonacci numbers can have a common factor. If fn and fn+2 are both multiples of 3 then fn+1 must also be a multiple of 3 and hence all Fibonacci numbers will be multiples of 3 which is not the case. This shows that if fn and fn+4 are multiples of 3 then no Fibonacci numbers between them can be multiples of 3, that is fn is divisible by 3 only if n is a multiple of 4.