Problem:
Determine the number of pairs of integers of modulus less than that solve the equation .
Problem:
Determine the number of pairs of integers of modulus less than that solve the equation .
Pick one
Solution:
The answer is (B). First of all, note that must divide , so we can write , with an integer of modulus less than or equal to , so that . Substituting into the equation we have
and dividing by we get
The number of solutions is therefore equal to the number of integers such that
indeed, once is chosen, the integer is uniquely determined. One easily observes that for or the inequality is not satisfied, while it is satisfied for all integers between and , which are .