Prove that, for every positive integer , there exist positive integers such that for all the expression
is a positive integer.
Solution
We will prove the claim using mathematical induction on . We will call the set good if it satisfies the given condition.
For the set is clearly good. Let us assume that for some positive integer there exists a good set . Let be the least common multiple of the set
We claim that the set , containing elements, is also good.
Notice that for all we have
which is a positive integer since is divisible by (by definition).
Moreover, for all we have
which is a positive integer as well.
This completes the inductive step, thereby proving the claim.
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track
puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.