Number theoryDifficulty 5.6AIME, harderProve itPhilippines
Problem:
Find all positive integers n such that n2−n+1 is a multiple of 5n−4.
Solution
Solution:
We are to find all positive integers n such that 5n−4 divides n2−n+1.
Let d=5n−4. We require d∣n2−n+1.
This means there exists an integer k such that: n2−n+1=k(5n−4) Rewriting: n2−n+1−5kn+4k=0 n2−(5k+1)n+(4k+1)=0 This is a quadratic in n. For n to be integer, the discriminant must be a perfect square: Δ=[−(5k+1)]2−4⋅1⋅(4k+1)=(5k+1)2−4(4k+1) =25k2+10k+1−16k−4 =25k2−6k−3 We want Δ to be a perfect square, say m2: 25k2−6k−3=m2 So, 25k2−6k−(m2+3)=0 We can try small integer values for k to see if Δ is a perfect square.
Try k=0: Δ=0−0−3=−3 Not a perfect square.
k=1: 25−6−3=16 16 is a perfect square (42).
So k=1 works. Let's find n:
Recall: n2−(5k+1)n+(4k+1)=0 For k=1: n2−6n+5=0 n=26±36−20=26±4 So n=5 or n=1.
Check if n=1 and n=5 work in the original condition:
For n=1: 5n−4=1, n2−n+1=1; 1 divides 1.
For n=5: 5n−4=21, n2−n+1=25−5+1=21; 21 divides 21.
Try k=−1: 25−(−6)−3=25+6−3=28 Not a perfect square.
Try k=2: 100−12−3=85 Not a perfect square.
Try k=−2: 100+12−3=109 Not a perfect square.
Try k=3: 225−18−3=204 Not a perfect square.
Try k=−3: 225+18−3=240 Not a perfect square.
Try k=4: 400−24−3=373 Not a perfect square.
Try k=−4: 400+24−3=421 Not a perfect square.
Thus, the only positive integer solutions are n=1 and n=5.
Answer:
All positive integers n such that n2−n+1 is a multiple of 5n−4 are n=1 and n=5.
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Source: MathNet,
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