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Number theory Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Ukraine

Let a,b,c,da, b, c, d be positive integers satisfying ab=cdab = cd. Is it possible that a+b+c+da+b+c+d is a prime number?

Solution

It follows from the problem statement that abc\frac{ab}{c} is a positive integer. Then there should exist positive integers m,n,x,ym, n, x, y such that c=mnc = mn, a=mxa = mx, b=nyb = ny. This implies that d=abc=xyd = \frac{ab}{c} = xy, and so a+b+c+d=mx+ny+mn+xy=(n+x)(m+y)a+b+c+d = mx+ny+mn+xy = (n+x)(m+y), which is, obviously, not prime.

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