Set consists of 7 consecutive positive integers less than , while set consists of 11 consecutive positive integers. If the sum of the numbers in is equal to the sum of the numbers in , what is the maximum possible element that could contain?
Solutions — 2
Solution 1
Let
and , where . We have
hence
This equation is equivalent to
The smallest solution in positive integers to this is and all solutions are , , where is an arbitrary positive integer.
Since , it follows , that is . We get , hence the maximum possible element of is .
Solution 2
Choose
and
We have , hence and . It follows and , for some positive integer . But implies , that is , hence . The desired number is .
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