Maths Olympiad Prep

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Problem 1139

AMC 12 late, AIME early
Number theory Difficulty 4.8 Find the answer HMMT November

Let p,q,r,sp, q, r, s be distinct primes such that pq−rsp q-r s is divisible by 30. Find the minimum possible value of p+q+r+sp+q+r+s.

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

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Official solution

The key is to realize none of the primes can be 2,3, or 5, or else we would have to use one of them twice. Hence p,q,r,sp, q, r, s must lie among 7,11,13,17,19,23,29,…7,11,13,17,19,23,29, \ldots. These options give remainders of 1( mod 2)1(\bmod 2) (obviously), 1,−1,1,−1,1,−1,−1,…1,-1,1,-1,1,-1,-1, \ldots modulo 3, and 2,1,3,2,4,3,4,…2,1,3,2,4,3,4, \ldots modulo 5. We automatically have 2∣pq−rs2 \mid p q-r s, and we have 3∣pq−rs3 \mid p q-r s if and only if pqrs≡(pq)2≡1p q r s \equiv(p q)^{2} \equiv 1 ( mod 3)(\bmod 3), i.e. there are an even number of −1( mod 3)-1(\bmod 3) 's among p,q,r,sp, q, r, s. If {p,q,r,s}={7,11,13,17}\{p, q, r, s\}=\{7,11,13,17\}, then we cannot have 5∣pq−rs5 \mid p q-r s, or else 12≡pqrs≡(pq)2( mod 5)12 \equiv p q r s \equiv(p q)^{2}(\bmod 5) is a quadratic residue. Our next smallest choice (in terms of p+q+r+sp+q+r+s ) is {7,11,17,19}\{7,11,17,19\}, which works: 7⋅17−11⋅19≡22−4≡0( mod 5)7 \cdot 17-11 \cdot 19 \equiv 2^{2}-4 \equiv 0(\bmod 5). This gives an answer of 7+17+11+19=547+17+11+19=54.

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