Let the odd part of a positive integer be the greatest odd integer that divides .
Does there exist a positive odd integer that cannot be represented as a product of the odd parts of two consecutive positive integers?
Solutions — 2
Solution 1
Let us show that number cannot be represented as a product of the odd parts of two consecutive positive integers. Assume the opposite: let , where and are the odd parts of two consecutive positive integers. As is a prime number, either and or and . As of the two consecutive integers one is always odd and the odd part of an odd number is the number itself, either or is one of the two consecutive integers. If it is , then the other number can only be , but the odd part of is not . If it is , then the other number can only be or , but neither of those has odd part equal to . In all cases we got a contradiction which proves the statement.
Solution 2
Let us show cannot be represented in the required way. If this representation existed, then due to the primality of the factors would have to be and . Therefore one of the two consecutive integers has to be divisible by . But this number cannot be itself, since neither nor has as its odd part. It also cannot be an odd multiple of , because then its odd part would be the number itself rather than . Finally, it cannot be an even multiple of , since in such case the neighbouring numbers would be odd numbers greater than , the odd parts of which are numbers themselves rather than .