Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2020

Number theory Difficulty 2.4 Junior Find the answer Canada

Positive integers ss and tt have the property that s(st)=29s(s - t) = 29. What is the value of s+ts+t

11
2828
5757
3030
2929

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

We are given that ss and tt are positive integers and that s(st)=29s(s-t) = 29.
Since ss and tt are positive, then sts-t is less than ss.
Since ss is positive and 29 is positive and s(st)=29s(s-t)=29, then sts-t must also be positive.
Since 29 is a prime number, the only way that it can be written as a product of two positive integers is 29=29129 = 29 \cdot 1.
Since s(st)=29s(s-t)=29 and s>sts > s-t, then we must have s=29s = 29 and st=1s-t=1.
Since s=29s=29 and st=1s-t=1, we obtain t=28t=28.
Therefore, s+t=29+28=57s+t=29+28=57.

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Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.