Olympiad Maths Prep

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Problem 759

AIME late
Number theory Difficulty 5.4 Find the answer

Task A-2.3. (10 points)

Determine all natural numbers nn for which

5n+2n+13n=9n+4n 5^{n}+2^{n+1} 3^{n}=9^{n}+4^{n}

Official solution

## Solution.

The given equation can be written in the form

5n=32n23n2n+22n5n=(3n2n)2 \begin{gathered} 5^{n}=3^{2 n}-2 \cdot 3^{n} \cdot 2^{n}+2^{2 n} \\ 5^{n}=\left(3^{n}-2^{n}\right)^{2} \end{gathered}

The right-hand side is a perfect square, so the left-hand side must also be a perfect square.

Therefore, nn is an even number, n=2k(kN)n=2 k(k \in \mathbb{N}).

5k=32k22k5k=(3k2k)(3k+2k) \begin{gathered} 5^{k}=3^{2 k}-2^{2 k} \\ 5^{k}=\left(3^{k}-2^{k}\right)\left(3^{k}+2^{k}\right) \end{gathered}

The difference between the numbers 3k2k3^{k}-2^{k} and 3k+2k3^{k}+2^{k} is 2k+12^{k+1}, so it is not possible for both numbers to be divisible by 5. 2 points Therefore, the only possibility is 3k2k=13^{k}-2^{k}=1 and 3k+2k=5k3^{k}+2^{k}=5^{k}, hence k=1k=1. 2 points

The only solution to the given equation is n=2k=2n=2 k=2.

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