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Number theory Difficulty 6.3 National olympiad Find the answer

Determine all natural numbers nn such that 9n79^n - 7 can be represented as a product of at least two consecutive natural numbers.

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

Solution

To determine all natural numbers n n such that 9n7 9^n - 7 can be represented as a product of at least two consecutive natural numbers, we need to find n n such that 9n7=k(k+1) 9^n - 7 = k(k+1) for some natural number k k .

1. Rewrite the equation:
9n7=k(k+1) 9^n - 7 = k(k+1)
This implies:
9n7=k2+k 9^n - 7 = k^2 + k

2. Consider the quadratic equation:
k2+k(9n7)=0 k^2 + k - (9^n - 7) = 0
For k k to be an integer, the discriminant of this quadratic equation must be a perfect square. The discriminant Δ\Delta is given by:
Δ=1+4(9n7) \Delta = 1 + 4(9^n - 7)
Δ=49n27 \Delta = 4 \cdot 9^n - 27

3. Check for perfect square:
We need 49n27 4 \cdot 9^n - 27 to be a perfect square. Let:
49n27=m2 4 \cdot 9^n - 27 = m^2
for some integer m m . Rearrange to get:
49nm2=27 4 \cdot 9^n - m^2 = 27
49n27=m2 4 \cdot 9^n - 27 = m^2
49n=m2+27 4 \cdot 9^n = m^2 + 27

4. **Check small values of n n :**
- For n=1 n = 1 :
491=36 4 \cdot 9^1 = 36
3627=9 36 - 27 = 9
m2=9    m=3 m^2 = 9 \implies m = 3
917=2(not a product of two consecutive numbers) 9^1 - 7 = 2 \quad \text{(not a product of two consecutive numbers)}

- For n=2 n = 2 :
492=324 4 \cdot 9^2 = 324
32427=297 324 - 27 = 297
m2=297(not a perfect square) m^2 = 297 \quad \text{(not a perfect square)}

- For n=3 n = 3 :
493=2916 4 \cdot 9^3 = 2916
291627=2889 2916 - 27 = 2889
m2=2889(not a perfect square) m^2 = 2889 \quad \text{(not a perfect square)}

5. **General case for n>3 n > 3 :**
If n>3 n > 3 , then 49n27 4 \cdot 9^n - 27 grows very large and it is unlikely to be a perfect square. We can use modular arithmetic to show that 49n27 4 \cdot 9^n - 27 modulo 81 does not yield a perfect square.

- For n=4 n = 4 :
494=26244 4 \cdot 9^4 = 26244
2624427=26217 26244 - 27 = 26217
m2=26217(not a perfect square) m^2 = 26217 \quad \text{(not a perfect square)}

6. Conclusion:
After checking small values and considering the general case, we find that there are no natural numbers n n such that 9n7 9^n - 7 can be represented as a product of at least two consecutive natural numbers.

The final answer is None \boxed{\text{None}}

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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.