1984 AIME Problems/Problem 14

Revision as of 10:06, 3 August 2016 by TheJellyBoat (talk | contribs) (Solution 2)

Problem

What is the largest even integer that cannot be written as the sum of two odd composite numbers?

Solution 1

Take an even positive integer $x$. $x$ is either $0 \bmod{6}$, $2 \bmod{6}$, or $4 \bmod{6}$. Notice that the numbers $9$, $15$, $21$, ... , and in general $9 + 6n$ for nonnegative $n$ are odd composites. We now have 3 cases:

If $x \ge 18$ and is $0 \bmod{6}$, $x$ can be expressed as $9 + (9+6n)$ for some nonnegative $n$. Note that $9$ and $9+6n$ are both odd composites.

If $x\ge 44$ and is $2 \bmod{6}$, $x$ can be expressed as $35 + (9+6n)$ for some nonnegative $n$. Note that $35$ and $9+6n$ are both odd composites.

If $x\ge 34$ and is $4 \bmod{6}$, $x$ can be expressed as $25 + (9+6n)$ for some nonnegative $n$. Note that $25$ and $9+6n$ are both odd composites.


Clearly, if $x \ge 44$, it can be expressed as a sum of 2 odd composites. However, if $x = 42$, it can also be expressed using case 1, and if $x = 40$, using case 3. $38$ is the largest even integer that our cases do not cover. If we examine the possible ways of splitting $38$ into two addends, we see that no pair of odd composites add to $38$. Therefore, $\boxed{038}$ is the largest possible number that is not expressible as the sum of two odd composite numbers.

Solution 2

Let $n$ be an integer that cannot be written as the sum of two odd composite numbers. If $n>33$, then $n-9,n-15,n-21,n-25,n-27,$ and $n-33$ must all be prime (or $n-33=1$, which yields $n=34=9+25$ which does not work). Thus $n-9,n-15,n-21,n-27,$ and $n-33$ form a prime quintuplet. However, only one prime quintuplet exists as exactly one of those 5 numbers must be divisible by 5.This prime quintuplet is $5,11,17,23,$ and $29$, yielding a maximal answer of 38. Since $38-25=13$, which is prime, the answer is $\boxed{038}$.

See also

1984 AIME (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 13
Followed by
Problem 15
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions