Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.0 AIME Prove it North Macedonia

Prove that the sum of six consecutive positive integers, such that each of them is not divisible with 77, is divisible with 2121 but it's not divisible with 4242. Find six such numbers which sum is a four-digit number that is a square of a positive integer.

Solution

Because none of the six consecutive positive integers is divisible with 77 they are of this kind: 7n+17n+1, 7n+27n+2, 7n+37n+3, 7n+47n+4, 7n+57n+5, 7n+67n+6, nN0n \in \mathbb{N}_0. Their sum is S=42n+21=21(2n+1)S=42n+21=21(2n+1), from where it follows that SS is divisible with 2121 but it's not divisible with 4242. In order SS to be a square of a positive integer it must 2n+1=21k22n+1=21k^2 for some odd number kk and in order SS to be a four-digit number the inequality 2<k2<232<k^2<23 must hold. This is possible only if k2=9k^2=9 from where we obtain that 2n+1=21k2=1892n+1=21k^2=189 and n=94n=94. The desired numbers are 659659, 660660, 661661, 662662, 663663 and 664664.

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