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Number theory Difficulty 5.0 AIME Prove it Saudi Arabia

Find all integers nn for which 9n+169 n+16 and 16n+916 n+9 are both perfect squares.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

It is clear that n=0n=0 and n=1n=1 are solutions. Let 9n+16=x29 n+16 = x^2, 16n+9=y216 n+9 = y^2. Then
16x29y2=16292 16 x^2 - 9 y^2 = 16^2 - 9^2
that is
(4x3y)(4x+3y)=752. (4 x - 3 y)(4 x + 3 y) = 7 \cdot 5^2.
We can assume that x,y>0x, y > 0, hence we have 4x3y>04 x - 3 y > 0. Considering the following possibilities
{4x3y=14x+3y=175{4x3y=54x+3y=35{4x3y=74x+3y=25 \left\{ \begin{array}{l} 4 x - 3 y = 1 \\ 4 x + 3 y = 175 \end{array} \right. \quad \left\{ \begin{array}{l} 4 x - 3 y = 5 \\ 4 x + 3 y = 35 \end{array} \right. \quad \left\{ \begin{array}{l} 4 x - 3 y = 7 \\ 4 x + 3 y = 25 \end{array} \right.
we get the solutions x=22,5,8x = 22, 5, 8, respectively. Hence n=52n = 52, n=1n = 1, and n=0n = 0 are the desired values of nn.

Solution 2

Let 9n+16=x29 n+16 = x^2, 16n+9=y216 n+9 = y^2. Then
(xy)2=(9n+16)(16n+9)=(12n)2+337n+122, (x y)^2 = (9 n+16)(16 n+9) = (12 n)^2 + 337 n + 12^2,
hence
(12n+15)2>(xy)2(12n+12)2 (12 n + 15)^2 > (x y)^2 \geq (12 n + 12)^2
It follows that there are only three possibilities for (xy)2(x y)^2, that is (12n+12)2(12 n + 12)^2, (12n+13)2(12 n + 13)^2, and (12n+14)2(12 n + 14)^2. Solving the corresponding equation we get n=0,1n = 0, 1 and n=52n = 52.

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