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Number theory Difficulty 6.9 National olympiad Find the answer

6. (NET 4) IMO3 A{ }^{\mathrm{IMO} 3} \mathrm{~A} rectangular box can be filled completely with unit cubes. If one places cubes with volume 2 in the box such that their edges are parallel to the edges of the box, one can fill exactly 40%40 \% of the box. Determine all possible (interior) sizes of the box.

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

6. Suppose a1a2a3a_{1} \leq a_{2} \leq a_{3} are the dimensions of the box. If we set bi=[ai/23]b_{i} = \left[a_{i} / \sqrt[3]{2}\right], the condition of the problem is equivalent to a1b1a2b2a3b3=5\frac{a_{1}}{b_{1}} \cdot \frac{a_{2}}{b_{2}} \cdot \frac{a_{3}}{b_{3}} = 5. We list some values of a,b=[a/23]a, b = [a / \sqrt[3]{2}] and a/ba / b:

| aa | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: |
| bb | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| a/ba / b | 2 | 1.5 | 1.33 | 1.67 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.33 | 1.29 | 1.43 |

We note that if a>2a > 2, then a/b5/3a / b \leq 5 / 3, and if a>5a > 5, then a/b3/2a / b \leq 3 / 2. If a1>2a_{1} > 2, then a1b1a2b2a3b3<(5/3)3<5\frac{a_{1}}{b_{1}} \cdot \frac{a_{2}}{b_{2}} \cdot \frac{a_{3}}{b_{3}} < (5 / 3)^{3} < 5, a contradiction. Hence a1=2a_{1} = 2. If also a2=2a_{2} = 2, then a3/b3=5/423a_{3} / b_{3} = 5 / 4 \leq \sqrt[3]{2}, which is impossible. Also, if a26a_{2} \geq 6, then a2b2a3b3(1.5)2<2.5\frac{a_{2}}{b_{2}} \cdot \frac{a_{3}}{b_{3}} \leq (1.5)^{2} < 2.5, again a contradiction. We thus have the following cases:
(i) a1=2,a2=3a_{1} = 2, a_{2} = 3, then a3/b3=5/3a_{3} / b_{3} = 5 / 3, which holds only if a3=5a_{3} = 5;
(ii) a1=2,a2=4a_{1} = 2, a_{2} = 4, then a3/b3=15/8a_{3} / b_{3} = 15 / 8, which is impossible;
(iii) a1=2,a2=5a_{1} = 2, a_{2} = 5, then a3/b3=3/2a_{3} / b_{3} = 3 / 2, which holds only if a3=6a_{3} = 6.

The only possible sizes of the box are therefore (2,3,5)(2,3,5) and (2,5,6)(2,5,6).

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.