Number theoryDifficulty 5.0AIME, harderProve itIreland
Find the least k for which the number 2010 can be expressed as the sum of the squares of k integers.
Solution
The number 2010 is a multiple of 3 but not of 9. The sum of two squares can be a multiple of 3 only if the two squares involved are both multiples of 3 – which means they must be multiples of 9 as well. So 2010 is not the sum of two squares.
One can write 2010 in various ways as the sum of three squares. For completeness, all possible such representations are listed below. 2010=12+282+352=42+252+372=52+72+442=52+312+322=72+192+402=112+172+402=162+232+352=192+252+322
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Source: MathNet,
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