To determine all natural numbers n such that 9n−7 can be represented as a product of at least two consecutive natural numbers, we need to find n such that 9n−7=k(k+1) for some natural number k.
1. Rewrite the equation:
9n−7=k(k+1)
This implies:
9n−7=k2+k
2. Consider the quadratic equation:
k2+k−(9n−7)=0
For k to be an integer, the discriminant of this quadratic equation must be a perfect square. The discriminant Δ is given by:
Δ=1+4(9n−7)
Δ=4⋅9n−27
3. Check for perfect square:
We need 4⋅9n−27 to be a perfect square. Let:
4⋅9n−27=m2
for some integer m. Rearrange to get:
4⋅9n−m2=27
4⋅9n−27=m2
4⋅9n=m2+27
4. **Check small values of n:**
- For n=1:
4⋅91=36
36−27=9
m2=9⟹m=3
91−7=2(not a product of two consecutive numbers)
- For n=2:
4⋅92=324
324−27=297
m2=297(not a perfect square)
- For n=3:
4⋅93=2916
2916−27=2889
m2=2889(not a perfect square)
5. **General case for n>3:**
If n>3, then 4⋅9n−27 grows very large and it is unlikely to be a perfect square. We can use modular arithmetic to show that 4⋅9n−27 modulo 81 does not yield a perfect square.
- For n=4:
4⋅94=26244
26244−27=26217
m2=26217(not a perfect square)
6. Conclusion:
After checking small values and considering the general case, we find that there are no natural numbers n such that 9n−7 can be represented as a product of at least two consecutive natural numbers.
The final answer is None