Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /52 of 348

Algebra Difficulty 4.7 AIME Find the answer

Compute the sum of all positive integers nn for which 9n+4n+23n+169 \sqrt{n}+4 \sqrt{n+2}-3 \sqrt{n+16} is an integer.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

For the expression to be an integer at least one of nn and n+2n+2 must be a perfect square. We also note that at most one of nn and n+2n+2 can be a square, so exactly one of them is a square. Case 1: nn is a perfect square. By our previous observation, it must be that 4n+2=3n+16n=164 \sqrt{n+2}=3 \sqrt{n+16} \Rightarrow n=16. Case 2: n+2n+2 is a perfect square. By our previous observation, it must be that 9n=3n+16n=29 \sqrt{n}=3 \sqrt{n+16} \Rightarrow n=2. Consequently, the answer is 16+2=1816+2=18.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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