Let , , and be prime numbers satisfying
Prove that the sum of these four prime numbers is divisible by 60.
Solution
The four prime numbers have to fulfill and and hence they must be among the five consecutive odd numbers , , , and .
As we have to choose 4 out of the five numbers , , , , , we have to omit exactly one of these numbers. If we omit one of the numbers , , or , three subsequent odd numbers remain, one of which has to be divisible by 3, which is excluded.
Therefore, we have to omit .
Hence the four prime numbers have to be , , and .
Exactly one of the five consecutive integers , , , and is divisible by 5.
By construction, none of the chosen number , , , can be divisible by 5. This implies that is divisible by 5. So is divisible by 15.
The fact that
yields that the sum is divisible by 60.
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.