Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Singapore

Find all integers nn such that n2+24n+35n^2 + 24n + 35 is a square.

Solution

Suppose n2+24n+35n^2 + 24n + 35 is a square. Let n2+24n+35=m2n^2 + 24n + 35 = m^2. This equation can be written as (2n+2m+24)(2n2m+24)=436(2n + 2m + 24)(2n - 2m + 24) = 436. Since 436=22×109436 = 2^2 \times 109, we have {2n+2m+24,2n2m+24}={1,436},{1,436},{2,218},{2,218},{4,109},{4,109}\{2n + 2m + 24, 2n - 2m + 24\} = \{1, 436\}, \{-1, -436\}, \{2, 218\}, \{-2, -218\}, \{4, 109\}, \{-4, -109\}.

For instance, we have 2n+2m+24=12n + 2m + 24 = 1, 2n2m+24=4362n - 2m + 24 = 436 giving n=389/4n = 389/4, m=435/4m = -435/4, and 2n+2m+24=4362n + 2m + 24 = 436, 2n2m+24=12n - 2m + 24 = 1 giving n=389/4n = 389/4, m=435/4m = 435/4. Since the solutions are not integers, they are rejected.

Solving 2n+2m+24=22n + 2m + 24 = 2, 2n2m+24=2182n - 2m + 24 = 218 gives n=43n = 43, m=54m = -54, and solving 2n+2m+24=22n + 2m + 24 = -2, 2n2m+24=2182n - 2m + 24 = -218 gives n=67n = -67, m=54m = 54. The other systems do not give integer solutions.

Thus the only solutions are n=43n = 43 and 67-67. In both cases, the square is 542=291654^2 = 2916.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.