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Number theory Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Romania

Prove that the product of every three odd consecutive positive integers can be written as the sum of three consecutive integers.

Solution

Let the three odd consecutive numbers be 2p+12p + 1, 2p+32p + 3 and 2p+52p + 5, where pp is a positive integer. Then one of these numbers is divisible by 33:

If p=3kp = 3k, with integer kk, then 2p+3=2(3k)+3=6k+3=3(2k+1)2p + 3 = 2(3k) + 3 = 6k + 3 = 3(2k + 1);

If p=3k+1p = 3k + 1, with integer kk, then 2p+1=2(3k+1)+1=6k+3=3(2k+1)2p + 1 = 2(3k + 1) + 1 = 6k + 3 = 3(2k + 1);

If p=3k+2p = 3k + 2, with integer kk, then 2p+5=2(3k+2)+5=6k+9=3(2k+3)2p + 5 = 2(3k + 2) + 5 = 6k + 9 = 3(2k + 3).

In all the cases the product PP is a multiple of 33, therefore P=3a=(a1)+a+(a+1)P = 3a = (a-1) + a + (a+1), with integer aa.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.