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Number theory Difficulty 4.8 AIME Prove it Brazil

Find all solutions in positive integers to na+nb=ncn^a + n^b = n^c.

Solution

We must have n>1n > 1, c>ac > a and c>bc > b. Suppose without loss of generality that aba \le b. Dividing by nan^a we get 1+nba=nca1 + n^{b-a} = n^{c-a}. But ca>bac - a > b - a, so ncannban^{c-a} \ge n \cdot n^{b-a}. So we must have n=2n = 2, ba=0b - a = 0 and ca=1c - a = 1. It is easy to check that that gives a solution.

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