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Macedonian Mathematical Competitions

Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it North Macedonia

Let nn be a positive integer. Does (2n−3)(2n−1)(2n+1)(2n+3)+16(2n-3)(2n-1)(2n+1)(2n+3)+16 equal the square of a positive integer? Does the number 2005×2007×2009×2011+162005 \times 2007 \times 2009 \times 2011 + 16 equal the square of a positive integer?

Solution

Because (2n−3)(2n+3)=4n2−9(2n-3)(2n+3) = 4n^2 - 9 and (2n−1)(2n+1)=4n2−1(2n-1)(2n+1) = 4n^2 - 1, we have
(2n−3)(2n−1)(2n+1)(2n+3)+16=(4n2−9)(4n2−1)+16.(2n-3)(2n-1)(2n+1)(2n+3) + 16 = (4n^2 - 9)(4n^2 - 1) + 16.
Expanding:
(4n2−9)(4n2−1)=16n4−4n2−36n2+9=16n4−40n2+9.(4n^2 - 9)(4n^2 - 1) = 16n^4 - 4n^2 - 36n^2 + 9 = 16n^4 - 40n^2 + 9.
So,
(2n−3)(2n−1)(2n+1)(2n+3)+16=16n4−40n2+9+16=16n4−40n2+25.(2n-3)(2n-1)(2n+1)(2n+3) + 16 = 16n^4 - 40n^2 + 9 + 16 = 16n^4 - 40n^2 + 25.
Notice that
16n4−40n2+25=(4n2−5)2.16n^4 - 40n^2 + 25 = (4n^2 - 5)^2.
Therefore, (2n−3)(2n−1)(2n+1)(2n+3)+16(2n-3)(2n-1)(2n+1)(2n+3) + 16 is the square of a positive integer for every positive integer nn.

For the number 2005×2007×2009×2011+162005 \times 2007 \times 2009 \times 2011 + 16, if we set n=1004n = 1004, then
2005×2007×2009×2011+16=(4×10042−5)2=10080162.2005 \times 2007 \times 2009 \times 2011 + 16 = (4 \times 1004^2 - 5)^2 = 1008016^2.
Thus, 2005×2007×2009×2011+162005 \times 2007 \times 2009 \times 2011 + 16 is also the square of a positive integer.

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