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Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions

Algebra Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Saudi Arabia

Find the smallest integer mm for which there are positive integers n>k>1n > k > 1 satisfying the equation
11…1⏟n=11…1⏟k⋅m. \underbrace{11 \ldots 1}_{n} = \underbrace{11 \ldots 1}_{k} \cdot m.

Solution

Obviously m>9m > 9. If m=ab‾m = \overline{ab}, where a≥1a \geq 1 then we must have b=1b = 1 to ensure last digit of 1⋅m1 \cdot m is equal 11. In this case regardless of value of aa the second last digit of 11…1⏟k⋅m\underbrace{11 \ldots 1}_{k} \cdot m is equal to the last digit of a+1a + 1 and can't be equal 11. So m≥100m \geq 100. Obviously m=100m = 100 doesn't satisfy to the condition, but m=101m = 101 satisfies, since 11⋅101=111111 \cdot 101 = 1111.
Hence, the answer to this problem is m=101m = 101. □\square

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