Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Greece

Find all pairs (x,n)(x, n) of positive integers satisfying the equation:
32x+4=n2. 3 \cdot 2^x + 4 = n^2.

Solution

If x=1x = 1, then we have no solutions, while for x=2x = 2, we have the solution (x,n)=(2,4)(x, n) = (2, 4).

Now we suppose that x3x \ge 3. The left part of the equation is even and so nn is even, say n=2kn = 2k. Then the equation can be written as: 32x+4=4k232x2=k213 \cdot 2^x + 4 = 4k^2 \Leftrightarrow 3 \cdot 2^{x-2} = k^2 - 1, and hence kk is odd. Thus the equation is written as: 32x2=(k1)(k+1)3 \cdot 2^{x-2} = (k-1)(k+1).

1st case: k+1=32ak+1 = 3 \cdot 2^a and k1=2bk-1 = 2^b, a,b1a, b \ge 1, with a+b=x2a+b = x-2. Then by subtracting we get 32a2b=23 \cdot 2^a - 2^b = 2. If a,b2a, b \ge 2, then the left part is divisible by 4, while the right part is not. Therefore, either a=1a=1, which implies b=2b=2 and x=5x=5, or b=1b=1, not giving solution for aa. Hence we have (x,n)=(5,10)(x, n) = (5, 10).

2nd case: k+1=2sk+1 = 2^s and k1=32tk-1 = 3 \cdot 2^t, s,t1s, t \ge 1, with s+t=x2s+t = x-2. Then we have the equation 2s32t=22^s - 3 \cdot 2^t = 2. If s,t2s, t \ge 2 then the left part is divisible by 4, while the right part is not. Hence, either s=1s=1 or t=1t=1, giving s=3s=3 and x=6x=6. Therefore in this case we have the solution (x,n)=(6,14)(x, n) = (6, 14).

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