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Number theory Difficulty 2.6 Junior Find the answer

We call the pair (m,n)(m, n) of positive integers a happy pair if the greatest common divisor of mm and nn is a perfect square. For example, (20,24)(20, 24) is a happy pair because the greatest common divisor of 20 and 24 is 4. Suppose that kk is a positive integer such that (205800,35k)(205800, 35k) is a happy pair. What is the number of possible values of kk with k2940k \leq 2940?

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

Solution

Suppose that (205800,35k)(205800, 35k) is a happy pair. We find the prime factorization of 205800: 205800=23×31×52×73205800 = 2^3 \times 3^1 \times 5^2 \times 7^3. Note also that 35k=51×71×k35k = 5^1 \times 7^1 \times k. Let dd be the greatest common divisor of 205800 and 35k35k. We want to find the number of possible values of k2940k \leq 2940 for which dd is a perfect square. Since both 5 and 7 are prime divisors of 205800 and 35k35k, then 5 and 7 are both prime divisors of dd. For dd to be a perfect square, 5 and 7 must both divide dd an even number of times. Since the prime powers of 5 and 7 in the prime factorization of 205800 are 525^2 and 737^3, respectively, then for dd to be a perfect square, it must be the case that 525^2 and 727^2 are factors of dd. Since d=5×7×kd = 5 \times 7 \times k, then k=5×7×j=35jk = 5 \times 7 \times j = 35j for some positive integer jj. Since k2940k \leq 2940, then 35j294035j \leq 2940 which gives j84j \leq 84. We now know that dd is the gcd of 23×31×52×732^3 \times 3^1 \times 5^2 \times 7^3 and 52×72×j5^2 \times 7^2 \times j. What further information does this give us about jj? - jj cannot be divisible by 3, otherwise dd would have a factor of 313^1 and cannot have a factor of 323^2 which would mean that dd is not a perfect square. - jj cannot be divisible by 7, otherwise dd has a factor of 737^3 and no larger power of 7, in which case dd would not be a perfect square. - If jj is divisible by 2, then the prime factorization of jj must include 222^2. In other words, the prime factorization of jj cannot include 212^1 or 232^3. - jj can be divisible by 5 since even if jj is divisible by 5, the power of 5 in dd is already limited by the power of 5 in 205800. - jj can be divisible by prime numbers other than 2,3,52, 3, 5 or 7 since 205800 is not and so the gcd will not be affected. Finally, we consider two cases: jj is divisible by 222^2 but not by a larger power of 2, and jj is not divisible by 2. Case 1: jj is divisible by 222^2 but not by a larger power of 2 Here, j=22h=4hj = 2^2h = 4h for some odd positive integer hh. Since j84j \leq 84, then 4h844h \leq 84 which means that h21h \leq 21. Knowing that jj cannot be divisible by 3 or by 7, this means that the possible values of hh are 1,5,11,13,17,191, 5, 11, 13, 17, 19. Each of these values of hh produces a value of jj that satisfies the conditions in the five bullets above. There are thus 6 values of jj in this case. Case 2: jj is not divisible by 2 Here, jj is odd. Knowing that jj cannot be divisible by 3 or by 7 and that j84j \leq 84, this means that the possible values of jj are: 1,5,11,13,17,19,23,25,29,31,37,41,43,47,53,55,59,61,65,67,71,73,79,831, 5, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 25, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 55, 59, 61, 65, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83. There are thus 24 values of jj in this case. In total, there are 30 values of jj and so there are 30 possible values of k2940k \leq 2940 for which (205800,35k)(205800, 35k) is a happy pair.

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