Problem:
Determine the maximum positive integer such that divides for every .
Problem:
Determine the maximum positive integer such that divides for every .
Solution:
The answer is 12. Let .
Let us first look for the maximum such that divides . Among six consecutive integers, three are divisible by 2, and among these three, one is certainly divisible by 4. Hence divides . Among six consecutive integers there are two integers divisible by 3. Hence divides . Among six consecutive integers, only one of them is divisible by 5. Hence 5 divides . Therefore
Since we are looking for the maximum such that divides , let us consider . Certainly divides both and , from which it follows that
One finds that . Then . Now, from 1 and 2 we deduce that . Wishing to extract from the largest square, we find that , that is .