Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 4 / 314 of 340 #574 of 2000

Problem 574

AMC 12 late, AIME early
Number theory Difficulty 5.0 Find the answer

19.3.13 Find a set of prime numbers p,q,r p, q, r , such that the numbers p(p+1),q(q+1),r(r+1) p(p+1), q(q+1), r(r+1) form an increasing arithmetic sequence.

Official solution

According to the identity
n(n+1)+(41n+20)(41n+21)=2(29n+14)(29n+15), n(n+1)+(41 n+20)(41 n+21)=2(29 n+14)(29 n+15),

the numbers n(n+1),(29n+14)(29n+15)n(n+1),(29 n+14)(29 n+15), and (41n+20)(41n+21)(41 n+20)(41 n+21) form an arithmetic sequence. If for some positive integer nn, the numbers n,29n+14,41n+20n, 29 n+14, 41 n+20 are all prime, then they constitute a solution to this problem. The smallest such n=127,p=127,q=3697,r=5527n=127, p=127, q=3697, r=5527 is a solution to this problem.

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