Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 5 / 303 of 400 #903 of 1964

Problem 903

AIME late
Number theory Difficulty 5.7 Prove it

## Task 34/72

Show that for all natural numbers nn the number k=462n122nk=46^{2 n}-12^{2 n} is divisible by 1972.

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, then read the official solution and mark yourself. Be honest about it: the record is only any use to you if it is.

Official solution

It is

k=462n122n=22n(232n62n)=4n[(23n)2(6n)2]=4n(23n+6n)(23n6n) k=46^{2 n}-12^{2 n}=2^{2 n}\left(23^{2 n}-6^{2 n}\right)=4^{n}\left[\left(23^{n}\right)^{2}-\left(6^{n}\right)^{2}\right]=4^{n}\left(23^{n}+6^{n}\right)\left(23^{n}-6^{n}\right)

Thus, the number kk is certainly divisible by 4. Furthermore,

23n6n=(17+6)n6n=i=0n(ni)17i6ni6n=i=1n(ni)17i6ni 23^{n}-6^{n}=(17+6)^{n}-6^{n}=\sum_{i=0}^{n}\binom{n}{i} 17^{i} 6^{n-i}-6^{n}=\sum_{i=1}^{n}\binom{n}{i} 17^{i} 6^{n-i}

which means the number kk is divisible by 17. Finally,

23n6n=(296)n6n=i=0n(ni)29i6ni6n=i=1n(ni)29i6ni 23^{n}-6^{n}=(29-6)^{n}-6^{n}=\sum_{i=0}^{n}\binom{n}{i} 29^{i} 6^{n-i}-6^{n}=\sum_{i=1}^{n}\binom{n}{i} 29^{i} 6^{n-i}

which means the number kk is divisible by 29. Therefore, kk is divisible by 41729=19724 \cdot 17 \cdot 29=1972.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.