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Number theory Difficulty 4.6 AIME Prove it North Macedonia

The ratios 3a5b36\frac{3a5b}{36} and 4c7d45\frac{4c7d}{45} are positive integers, where a,b,c,da, b, c, d are digits. Order all numbers of this kind by size.

Solution

The ratios 3a5b36\frac{3a5b}{36} and 4c7d45\frac{4c7d}{45} are positive integers if 3a5b3a5b is divisible by 3636 (hence by 44 and 99) and 4c7d4c7d is divisible by 4545 (hence by 55 and 99).

3a5b3a5b is divisible by 3636 if the last digit is 22 or 66 and because 3a5b3a5b is divisible by 99 the only two possible cases are 345636=96\frac{3456}{36} = 96 and 385236=107\frac{3852}{36} = 107.

4c7d4c7d is divisible by 4545 if the last digit is 00 or 55 and because 4c7d4c7d is divisible by 99 the only two possible cases are 427545=95\frac{4275}{45} = 95 and 477045=106\frac{4770}{45} = 106.

Now we obtain the desired ordering 427545<345636<477045<385236\frac{4275}{45} < \frac{3456}{36} < \frac{4770}{45} < \frac{3852}{36}.

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