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CEMC Fryer, 2026

Algebra Difficulty 4.1 AIME Prove it Canada

In a Dunbar sequence,

each term is a positive integer,
the second term is greater than the first term, and
each term after the second is calculated by adding the two
previous terms in the sequence.

For example, the first six terms of the Dunbar sequence with first
term 22 and second term 55 are: 2,5,7,12,19,312, 5, 7, 12, 19, 31

If the fifth term in a Dunbar sequence is
5757 and the third term is 2020, what is the first term in the
sequence?
Suppose that the first and second terms
in a Dunbar sequence are aa and
bb respectively. Determine all
possible pairs (a,b)(a,b) for which the
sixth term of the sequence is equal to 104104.
Suppose that the first and second terms
in another Dunbar sequence are cc
and dd respectively. Determine all
possible pairs (c,d)(c,d) for which the
product of the seventh term and the eighth term is equal to 41 44041\,440.

Solution

Suppose the first five terms of the sequence are xx, yy, 20, zz, 57.

The sum of the third term, 2020, and
the fourth term, zz, is equal to the
fifth term, 5757.

Thus, 20+z=5720+z=57, or z=37z=37.

Similarly, y+20=37y+20=37, and so the
second term is y=37−20=17y=37-20=17.

Finally, x=20−yx=20-y, or x=20−17=3x=20-17=3.

(The first five terms of this sequence are 33, 1717, 2020, 3737, 5757.)
The first six terms of this Dunbar sequence are aa, bb, a+ba+b, a+2ba+2b, 2a+3b2a+3b, 3a+5b3a+5b.

Thus, we want to find all possible ordered pairs of positive integers
(a,b)(a,b) for which a lt;b\text{a lt;b} and 3a+5b=1043a+5b=104.

Since 5b=104−3a5b=104-3a, then 104−3a104-3a must be a multiple of 55 (since 5b5b is a multiple of 55).

The smallest positive integer aa for
which 104−3a104-3a is a multiple of 5 is
a=3a=3.

When a=3a=3, 5b=104−3(3)=955b=104-3(3)=95 and so b=955=19b=\dfrac{95}{5}=19.

In this case, the first six terms of the sequence are 33, 1919, 2222, 4141, 6363, 104104.

The second smallest positive integer aa for which 104−3a104-3a is a multiple of 55 is a=8a=8.

When a=8a=8, 5b=104−3(8)=805b=104-3(8)=80 and so b=16b=16.

In this case, the first six terms of the sequence are 88, 1616, 2424, 4040, 6464, 104104.

The third smallest positive integer aa for which 104−3a104-3a is a multiple of 55 is a=13a=13.

When a=13a=13, 5b=104−3(13)=655b=104-3(13)=65 and so b=13b=13.

However, (a,b)=(13,13)(a,b)=(13,13) does not
satisfy the condition a lt;b\text{a lt;b}, and
for all values of aa greater than
1313, a gt;b\text{a gt;b}.

Thus, there are exactly two ordered pairs (a,b)(a,b) satisfying the given
conditions.

These are (3,19)(3,19) and (8,16)(8,16).
Solution 1:

The first eight terms of this Dunbar sequence are cc, dd, c+dc+d, c+2dc+2d, 2c+3d2c+3d, 3c+5d3c+5d, 5c+8d5c+8d, 8c+13d8c+13d.

Thus, we want to find all possible ordered pairs of positive integers
(c,d)(c,d) for which c lt;d\text{c lt;d} and (5c+8d)(8c+13d)=41 440(5c+8d)(8c+13d)=41\,440.

Suppose that we let the sixth, seventh and eighth terms of the sequence
be the positive integers RR, SS and TT, respectively.

Then R lt;S lt;T\text{R lt;S lt;T} and S×T=41 440S\times T=41\,440.

Since S lt;T\text{S lt;T} and S×T=41 440S\times T=41\,440, then S 2 lt;41 ,440\text{S 2 lt;41 ,440} and so S lt; 41 ,440\text{S lt; 41 ,440} or S≤203S\leq 203 (since SS is a positive integer).

Also, since R lt;S\text{R lt;S} and T=S+RT=S+R, then T lt;2S\text{T lt;2S}.

So, 41 ,440=S T lt;S (2S)=2S 2\text{41 ,440=S T lt;S (2S)=2S 2}, and thus 41 ,440 lt;2S 2\text{41 ,440 lt;2S 2} or 41 ,440 2 lt;S\text{41 ,440 2 lt;S}, which
gives 144≤S144\leq S.

Summarizing, we have S×T=41 440S\times T=41\,440, where 144≤S≤203144\leq S\leq 203.

Since SS and TT are positive integers, then (S,T)(S,T) is a factor pair of 41 440=25×5×7×3741\,440=2^5\times5\times7\times37.

If SS is a factor of 25×5×7×372^5\times5\times7\times37 and 144≤S≤203144\leq S\leq 203, then the possible
values of SS are 22×37=1482^2\times37=148, 25×5=1602^5\times5=160, and 5×37=1855\times37=185. Thus, the factor pairs
(S,T)(S,T) are (148,280)(148,280), (160,259)(160,259), and (185,224)(185,224).

If the seventh term is S=148S=148 and
the eighth term is T=280T=280, then the
sixth term is 280−148=132280-148=132, the
fifth term is 148−132=16148-132=16, the
fourth term is 132−16=116132-16=116, and the
third term is 16−116=−10016-116=-100.

Each term must be a positive integer, and so (S,T)≠(148,280)(S,T)\neq(148,280).

For each of the two remaining possible factor pairs (S,T)(S,T), we similarly work backward in an
attempt to determine (c,d)(c,d), the
first two terms of the sequence.

We summarize this work in the table that follows.

Factor pair (S,T)\boldsymbol{(S,T)}Term 8\boldsymbol{8}Term 7\boldsymbol{7}Term 6\boldsymbol{6}Term 5\boldsymbol{5}Term 4\boldsymbol{4}Term 3\boldsymbol{3}Term 2\boldsymbol{2}Term 1\boldsymbol{1}
(148,280)(148,280)2802801481481321321616116116−100-100
(160,259)(160,259)2592591601609999616138382323151588
(185,224)(185, 224)2242241851853939147147−108-108

Thus, (c,d)=(8,15)(c,d)=(8,15) is the only
pair for which the product of the seventh term and the eighth term is
equal to 41 44041\,440.

Solution 2:

We begin as we did in Solution 1 by letting the seventh term be S=5c+8dS=5c+8d and the eighth term be T=8c+13dT=8c+13d, so S×T=41 440S\times T=41\,440.

Next, we work backward to determine the first term, cc, and the second term, dd, in terms of SS and TT.

With the eighth term equal to TT and
the seventh term equal to SS, the
sixth term is T−ST-S.

Then, the fifth term is S−(T−S)=2S−TS-(T-S)=2S-T, the fourth term is (T−S)−(2S−T)=2T−3S(T-S)-(2S-T)=2T-3S, and the third term is
(2S−T)−(2T−3S)=5S−3T(2S-T)-(2T-3S)=5S-3T.

Finally, the second term is (2T−3S)−(5S−3T)=5T−8S=d(2T-3S)-(5S-3T)=5T-8S=d, and the first
term is (5S−3T)−(5T−8S)=13S−8T=c(5S-3T)-(5T-8S)=13S-8T=c.

Given that c gt;0\text{c gt;0}, it follows
that 13S-8T gt;0\text{13S-8T gt;0} or 13S gt;8T\text{13S gt;8T}.

Since S×T=41 440S\times T=41\,440, then T=41 440ST=\dfrac{41\,440}{S}. Substituting, we
get 13S gt;8 41 ,440 S\text{13S gt;8 41 ,440 S}.

SS is a positive integer and so
simplifying, we get S 2 gt; 8 41 ,440 13\text{S 2 gt; 8 41 ,440 13} or
S≥160S\geq 160.

Given that c lt;d\text{c lt;d}, it follows
that 13S-8T lt;5T-8S\text{13S-8T lt;5T-8S} or 21S lt;13T\text{21S lt;13T}.

Substituting T=41 440ST=\dfrac{41\,440}{S},
we get 21S lt;13 41 ,440 S\text{21S lt;13 41 ,440 S}.

SS is a positive integer and so
simplifying, we get S 2 lt; 13 41 ,440 21\text{S 2 lt; 13 41 ,440 21} or
S≤160S\leq 160.

Therefore, S=160S=160 and T=41 440160=259T=\dfrac{41\,440}{160}=259.

Substituting the values of SS and
TT, the first term is c=13S−8T=13(160)−8(259)=8c=13S-8T=13(160)-8(259)=8, and the second
term is d=5T−8S=5(259)−8(160)=15d=5T-8S=5(259)-8(160)=15.

We can confirm that the first 88
terms of the sequence are 88, 1515, 2323, 3838, 6161, 9999, 160160, 259259, and that 160×259=41 440160\times259=41\,440.

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