Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Belarus — Final Round /13 of 32

Belarus — Final Round

Number theory Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

Prime numbers pp, qq, rr (p+q<111p + q < 111) satisfy the equality
p+qr=p−q+r. \frac{p + q}{r} = p - q + r.
Find the largest possible value of the product pqrpqr.

Solution

We have
p+qr=p−q+r⇔q(r+1)−p(r−1)=r2. \frac{p + q}{r} = p - q + r \Leftrightarrow q(r + 1) - p(r - 1) = r^2.
If r>2r > 2, then rr is odd (since rr is prime). Thus the left-hand side of the latter equation is an even number while its right-hand side is an odd number, a contradiction. Therefore, r=2r = 2. Then from the initial equality it follows that p=3q−4p = 3q - 4. So, if qq increases, then pp also increases. Thus, the product pqr=(3q−4)⋅q⋅2pqr = (3q - 4) \cdot q \cdot 2 has maximal value as qq has maximal value.

Since p=3q−4p = 3q - 4 and, by condition, p+q<111p + q < 111, we have 3q−4+q=4q−4<1113q - 4 + q = 4q - 4 < 111, whence q<29q < 29. Then qq, as a prime, can admit only the following values 2323, 1919, 1717, ......, 22.

If q=23q = 23, then p=3q−4=3⋅23−4=65p = 3q - 4 = 3 \cdot 23 - 4 = 65 is a composite number.
If q=19q = 19, then p=3q−4=3⋅19−4=53p = 3q - 4 = 3 \cdot 19 - 4 = 53 is a prime number.

Thus, the largest possible value of the product pqr=53⋅19⋅2=2014pqr = 53 \cdot 19 \cdot 2 = 2014.

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