Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 6.9 National olympiad Prove it Estonia

There are some distinct positive integers written on a blackboard. If we erase the smallest number written on the blackboard, then the ratio of the sum and the product of the remaining numbers will be 4 times greater than the ratio of the sum and the product of the numbers initially on the blackboard. Find all possibilities for the set of numbers that could have been on the blackboard initially.

Solution

*Answer:* {5,20},{5,6,14},{5,7,13},{5,8,12},{5,9,11},{6,12}\{5, 20\}, \{5, 6, 14\}, \{5, 7, 13\}, \{5, 8, 12\}, \{5, 9, 11\}, \{6, 12\}.

Clearly there must be at least 2 numbers. Let nn be the smallest number, ss the sum and kk the product of the remaining numbers. We get the equation 4n+snk=sk4 \cdot \frac{n+s}{nk} = \frac{s}{k}. Multiplying by nknk, we get 4(n+s)=ns4(n+s) = ns, which rearranges to (n4)(s4)=16(n-4)(s-4) = 16. We know that 16=116=28=44=82=16116 = 1 \cdot 16 = 2 \cdot 8 = 4 \cdot 4 = 8 \cdot 2 = 16 \cdot 1 and n<sn < s, as nn was the smallest number on the blackboard. This leaves the options n4=1,s4=16n-4 = 1, s-4 = 16 and n4=2,s4=8n-4 = 2, s-4 = 8 (note that negative factors would also yield negative nn and/or ss). So n=5n = 5 and s=20s = 20 or n=6n = 6 and s=12s = 12.

Let n=5n = 5 and s=20s = 20. If there are initially 2 numbers, they must be 55 and 2020. If there are 3 numbers, they could be 5,65, 6 and 1414 or 5,75, 7 and 1313 or 5,85, 8 and 1212 or 5,95, 9 and 1111. There can't be 4 or more numbers, because 6+7+8>206+7+8 > 20.

Let n=6n = 6 and s=12s = 12. If there are initially 2 numbers, they must be 66 and 1212. There can't be 3 or more numbers, because 7+8>127+8 > 12.

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