Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 6.1 National Olympiad Prove it Romania

A positive integer n2n \ge 2 is lucky if n2n^2 can be represented as a sum of nn consecutive positive integers. Prove that:

a) the number 77 is lucky,

b) the number 1010 is not lucky,

c) the product of any two lucky numbers is a lucky number.

Solution

a) We seek for seven consecutive integers a,a+1,a+2,a+3,a+4,a+5,a+6a, a+1, a+2, a+3, a+4, a+5, a+6 such that 72=a+a+1+a+2+a+3+a+4+a+5+a+67^2 = a + a + 1 + a + 2 + a + 3 + a + 4 + a + 5 + a + 6. The equality gives 49=7a+2149 = 7a + 21, hence a=4a = 4. As 72=4+5+6+7+8+9+107^2 = 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10, number 77 is lucky.

b) Suppose there exist ten consecutive integers, namely a,a+1,a+2,,a+9a, a+1, a+2, \dots, a+9, such that 102=a+a+1+a+2++a+910^2 = a + a + 1 + a + 2 + \dots + a + 9. The equality gives 100=10a+45100 = 10a + 45, with no integer solution. Number 1010 is not lucky.

c) We claim that a number mm is lucky if and only if mm is odd. Suppose mm is a lucky number and write m2=(a+1)+(a+2)+(a+3)++(a+m)m^2 = (a+1) + (a+2) + (a+3) + \dots + (a+m) for a given positive integer aa. Then
m2=ma+(1+2+3++m)m2=ma+m(m+1)2, m^2 = m \cdot a + (1 + 2 + 3 + \dots + m) \Leftrightarrow m^2 = m \cdot a + \frac{m \cdot (m+1)}{2},
hence m=2a+1m = 2a + 1, so mm is odd. Conversely, let m=2k+1m = 2k + 1 be an odd number. As (2k+1)2=(k+1)+(k+2)++(3k+1)(2k+1)^2 = (k+1) + (k+2) + \dots + (3k+1), the number mm is lucky.

We conclude noticing that the product of two odd numbers is odd.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.