Problem:
For any positive integer denote by the smallest positive integer such that the sum is divisible by . Find all such that .
Solution
Solution:
If , then divides the sum , which implies that is odd.
The numbers , where is a prime number and , are solutions. Indeed, if and , then the sum is not divisible by because and are coprime and less than .
We shall prove that these are the only solutions. Let be an odd positive integer which is not a power of a prime number. Then , where , and . By the Chinese Remainder Theorem we conclude that there exists an integer such that and . It is clear that and . Therefore is not a solution.
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track
puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.