Maths Olympiad Prep

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Problem 335

Number theory Difficulty 2.4 Find the answer CEMC Cayley · Canada · 2020

The volume of a rectangular prism is 21. Its length, width and height are all different positive integers. The sum of its length, width and height is

1111
1313
1515
99
1717

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

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Official solution

Suppose that the length, width and height of the prism are the positive integers aa, bb and cc.

Since the volume of the prism is 21, then abc=21abc=21.

We note that each of aa, bb and cc is a positive divisor of 21.

The positive divisors of 21 are 1, 3, 7, and 21, and the only way to write 21 as a product of three different integers is 1×3×7=211 \times 3 \times 7 = 21.

Therefore, the length, width and height of the prism must be 1, 3, and 7, in some order.

The sum of these is 1+3+7=111+3+7=11.

Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.