Number theoryDifficulty 5.6AIME, harderProve itSaudi Arabia
Find all integers n≥2 for which n3n+4n+5n+8n+10n is an integer.
Solutions — 2
Solution 1
We have 33+43+53+83+103=123, that is n=3 satisfies the property. We shall prove that this is the unique solution. Consider the function h:[2,∞)→R, h(x)=(123)x+(124)x+(125)x+(128)x+(1210)x which is a strictly decreasing function with h(3)=1. It follows that for n>3, we have h(n)<h(3)=1. That is n3n+4n+5n+8n+10n<12 On the other hand, it is clear that 10<n3n+4n+5n+8n+10n hence if n3n+4n+5n+8n+10n is an integer, then it must be 11. We get 3n+4n+5n+8n+10n=11n, relation which is not possible since the left hand side is an even number.
Solution 2
Assume that n3n+4n+5n+8n+10n=k for some positive integer k, that is 3n+4n+5n+8n+10n=kn. Since the left hand side is an even number, it follows that 2∣kn, hence 2n∣kn. We obtain 2n∣3n+5n. On the other hand, we have 3n+5n≡(−1)n+1(mod4)≡2(mod4) if n is even, hence there are no even integers satisfying the property. If n is odd, then we have 3n+5n=(3+5)(3n−1−3n−2⋅5+…+5n−1)=23⋅a where a is an odd number. It follows n≥3, and we get the unique solution n=3.
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