Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 3.0 AMC 10/12 Find the answer United Kingdom

There are 20192019 penguins waddling towards their favourite restaurant. As the penguins arrive, they are handed tickets numbered in ascending order from 11 to 20192019, and told to join the queue. The first penguin starts the queue. For each n>1n > 1 the penguin holding ticket number nn finds the greatest m<nm < n which divides nn and enters the queue directly behind the penguin holding ticket number mm. This continues until all 20192019 penguins are in the queue.

(a) How many penguins are in front of the penguin with ticket number 22?

(b) What numbers are on the tickets held by the penguins just in front of and just behind the penguin holding ticket 3333?

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Source: UK Mathematics Trust, licensed © UK Mathematics Trust; question papers published free at bmos.ukmt.org.uk. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project. Solutions are the publisher's, linked not copied.