Problem:
For how many pairs of (positive) prime numbers does the polynomial have two integer roots? NOTE: Recall that 1 is not a prime number.
Problem:
For how many pairs of (positive) prime numbers does the polynomial have two integer roots? NOTE: Recall that 1 is not a prime number.
Pick one
Solution:
The answer is (B). Indeed, let and be the two integer roots of the polynomial. We then have , from which:
Since is a prime, from the second relation we deduce that or . Since must be negative, we have and (or vice versa). Hence we obtain , that is, is the successor of . Since the only two consecutive primes are 2 and 3, we get and , and therefore there is exactly one solution.
Let be the two possible integer roots. Then we have , from which and . Since is prime, from the second condition we obtain and correspondingly . Possibly swapping and , we may assume that . The first condition requires that be negative, so and . The only primes differing by 1 are 2 and 3. Therefore we only have the pair (3,2), corresponding to .