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k a My Retirement & New Leadership at AoPS
rrusczyk   1571
N Mar 26, 2025 by SmartGroot
I write today to announce my retirement as CEO from Art of Problem Solving. When I founded AoPS 22 years ago, I never imagined that we would reach so many students and families, or that we would find so many channels through which we discover, inspire, and train the great problem solvers of the next generation. I am very proud of all we have accomplished and I’m thankful for the many supporters who provided inspiration and encouragement along the way. I'm particularly grateful to all of the wonderful members of the AoPS Community!

I’m delighted to introduce our new leaders - Ben Kornell and Andrew Sutherland. Ben has extensive experience in education and edtech prior to joining AoPS as my successor as CEO, including starting like I did as a classroom teacher. He has a deep understanding of the value of our work because he’s an AoPS parent! Meanwhile, Andrew and I have common roots as founders of education companies; he launched Quizlet at age 15! His journey from founder to MIT to technology and product leader as our Chief Product Officer traces a pathway many of our students will follow in the years to come.

Thank you again for your support for Art of Problem Solving and we look forward to working with millions more wonderful problem solvers in the years to come.

And special thanks to all of the amazing AoPS team members who have helped build AoPS. We’ve come a long way from here:IMAGE
1571 replies
rrusczyk
Mar 24, 2025
SmartGroot
Mar 26, 2025
k a March Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
Mar 2, 2025
March is the month for State MATHCOUNTS competitions! Kudos to everyone who participated in their local chapter competitions and best of luck to all going to State! Join us on March 11th for a Math Jam devoted to our favorite Chapter competition problems! Are you interested in training for MATHCOUNTS? Be sure to check out our AMC 8/MATHCOUNTS Basics and Advanced courses.

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Do you have plans this summer? There are so many options to fit your schedule and goals whether attending a summer camp or taking online classes, it can be a great break from the routine of the school year. Check out our summer courses at AoPS Online, or if you want a math or language arts class that doesn’t have homework, but is an enriching summer experience, our AoPS Virtual Campus summer camps may be just the ticket! We are expanding our locations for our AoPS Academies across the country with 15 locations so far and new campuses opening in Saratoga CA, Johns Creek GA, and the Upper West Side NY. Check out this page for summer camp information.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the following events:
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0 replies
jlacosta
Mar 2, 2025
0 replies
VERY HARD MATH PROBLEM!
slimshadyyy.3.60   27
N 3 minutes ago by slimshadyyy.3.60
Let a ≥b ≥c ≥0 be real numbers such that a^2 +b^2 +c^2 +abc = 4. Prove that
a+b+c+(√a−√c)^2 ≥3.
27 replies
+2 w
slimshadyyy.3.60
Yesterday at 10:49 PM
slimshadyyy.3.60
3 minutes ago
A positive integer changes every second and becomes a power of two
nAalniaOMliO   5
N 9 minutes ago by RagvaloD
Source: Belarusian National Olympiad 2025
A positive integer with three digits is written on the board. Each second the number $n$ on the board gets replaced by $n+\frac{n}{p}$, where $p$ is the largest prime divisor of $n$.
Prove that either after 999 seconds or 1000 second the number on the board will be a power of two.
5 replies
nAalniaOMliO
Mar 28, 2025
RagvaloD
9 minutes ago
possible triangle inequality
sunshine_12   1
N 22 minutes ago by kiyoras_2001
a, b, c are real numbers
|a| + |b| + |c| − |a + b| − |b + c| − |c + a| + |a + b + c| ≥ 0
hey everyone, so I came across this inequality, and I did make some progress:
Let (a+b), (b+c), (c+a) be three sums T1, T2 and T3. As there are 3 sums, but they can be of only 2 signs, by pigeon hole principle, atleast 2 of the 3 sums must be of the same sign.
But I'm getting stuck on the case work. Can anyone help?
Thnx a lot
1 reply
sunshine_12
Today at 2:12 PM
kiyoras_2001
22 minutes ago
Equal radius
FabrizioFelen   9
N 32 minutes ago by ihategeo_1969
Source: Centroamerican Olympiad 2016, Problem 6
Let $\triangle ABC$ be triangle with incenter $I$ and circumcircle $\Gamma$. Let $M=BI\cap \Gamma$ and $N=CI\cap \Gamma$, the line parallel to $MN$ through $I$ cuts $AB$, $AC$ in $P$ and $Q$. Prove that the circumradius of $\odot (BNP)$ and $\odot (CMQ)$ are equal.
9 replies
FabrizioFelen
Jun 20, 2016
ihategeo_1969
32 minutes ago
No more topics!
Exponential + factorial diophantine
62861   34
N Mar 26, 2025 by ali123456
Source: USA TSTST 2017, Problem 4, proposed by Mark Sellke
Find all nonnegative integer solutions to $2^a + 3^b + 5^c = n!$.

Proposed by Mark Sellke
34 replies
62861
Jun 29, 2017
ali123456
Mar 26, 2025
Exponential + factorial diophantine
G H J
Source: USA TSTST 2017, Problem 4, proposed by Mark Sellke
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62861
3564 posts
#1 • 16 Y
Y by rightways, Davi-8191, Mathuzb, mathdragon2000, integrated_JRC, myh2910, OlympusHero, fidgetboss_4000, itslumi, son7, megarnie, centslordm, HWenslawski, Adventure10, Mango247, ItsBesi
Find all nonnegative integer solutions to $2^a + 3^b + 5^c = n!$.

Proposed by Mark Sellke
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by 62861, Jun 29, 2017, 8:51 PM
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v_Enhance
6870 posts
#2 • 23 Y
Y by laegolas, psa, MustafaKemal, Mathuzb, mathdragon2000, Mosquitall, integrated_JRC, myh2910, HolyMath, Kanep, Idio-logy, son7, v4913, sqrtX, tigerzhang, centslordm, guptaamitu1, HWenslawski, HamstPan38825, Adventure10, lian_the_noob12, Mango247, MS_asdfgzxcvb
For $n \le 4$, one can check the only solutions are: \begin{align*} 	2^2 + 3^0 + 5^0 &= 3! \\ 	2^1 + 3^1 + 5^0 &= 3! \\ 	2^4 + 3^1 + 5^1 &= 4!. \end{align*}Now we prove there are no solutions for $n \ge 5$.

A tricky way to do this is to take modulo $120$, since \begin{align*} 	2^a \pmod{120} &\in \{ 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 \} \\ 	3^b \pmod{120} &\in \{ 1, 3, 9, 27, 81 \} \\ 	5^c \pmod{120} &\in \{ 1, 5, 25 \} \end{align*}and by inspection one notes that no three elements have vanishing sum modulo $120$.

I expect most solutions to instead use casework. Here is one possible approach with cases (with $n \ge 5$). First, we analyze the cases where $a < 3$:
  • $a=0$: No solutions for parity reasons.
  • $a=1$: since $3^b + 5^c \equiv 6 \pmod 8$, we find $b$ even and $c$ odd (hence $c \neq 0$). Now looking modulo $5$ gives that $3^b + 5^c \equiv 3 \pmod 5$,
  • $a=2$: From $3^b + 5^c \equiv 4 \pmod 8$, we find $b$ is odd and $c$ is even. Now looking modulo $5$ gives a contradiction, even if $c = 0$, since $3^b \in \{2,3 \pmod 5\}$ but $3^b + 5^c \equiv 1 \pmod 5$.
Henceforth assume $a \ge 3$. Next, by taking modulo $8$ we have $3^b+5^c \equiv 0 \pmod 8$, which forces both $b$ and $c$ to be odd (in particular, $b,c > 0$). We now have \begin{align*} 	2^a + 5^c &\equiv 0 \pmod 3 \\ 	2^a + 3^b &\equiv 0 \pmod 5. \end{align*}The first equation implies $a$ is even, but the second equation requires $a$ to be odd, contradiction. Hence no solutions with $n \ge 5$.
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jeff10
1117 posts
#3 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
Solution
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by jeff10, Jun 30, 2017, 12:06 AM
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sunfishho
447 posts
#5 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
v_Enhance wrote:
A tricky way to do this is to take modulo $120$, since \begin{align*} 	2^a \pmod{120} &\in \{ 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 \} \\ 	3^b \pmod{120} &\in \{ 1, 3, 9, 27, 81 \} \\ 	5^c \pmod{120} &\in \{ 1, 5, 25 \} \end{align*}and by inspection one notes that no three elements have vanishing sum modulo $120$.
Just wondering, what is the motivation for picking 120?
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mathdragon2000
2458 posts
#6 • 3 Y
Y by sunfishho, Adventure10, Mango247
I'm not the one you're asking, but...
Motivation?
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by mathdragon2000, Nov 27, 2017, 2:11 AM
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inxang
157 posts
#7 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
CantonMathGuy wrote:
Find all nonnegative integer solutions to $2^a + 3^b + 5^c = n!$.

Proposed by Mark Sellke

Help me!

Solve integers equation:

$2^x+5^y-7^z=0$
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ubermensch
820 posts
#9 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
Nice diophantine, but I thought it was on the easier side for a TST... I found a rather roundabout way to do it(at least compared to the $mod$ $120$ solution here)-
Sketch
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AlastorMoody
2125 posts
#10 • 2 Y
Y by SHREYAS333, Adventure10
Solution
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Math-wiz
6107 posts
#12
Y by
CantonMathGuy wrote:
Find all nonnegative integer solutions to $2^a + 3^b + 5^c = n!$.

Proposed by Mark Sellke

solution
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Math-wiz, Mar 15, 2020, 5:48 AM
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kvs
620 posts
#13 • 1 Y
Y by Mango247
I claim the only solutions are $\boxed{(a,b,c,n) = (1,1,0,3), (4,1,1,4), (2,0,0,3)}$. One can easily check that all of these work.

We now prove there are no other solutions. First, we show that, if $n \geq 5, a \geq 3, b \geq 1$, there are no solutions. First, take the equation mod $4$ to get $3^b+5^c \equiv 0 \pmod{4}$, or $(-1)^b \equiv -1 \pmod{4}$, implying $b$ is odd. Taking the equation mod $8$ gives $3^b+(-3)^c \equiv 3 + (-3)^c \equiv 0 \pmod{8}$, implying $c$ is odd as well. Taking the equation mod $3$ gives $2^a+2^c \equiv 0 \pmod{3}$, implying $a$ is even since $c$ is odd. Finally, taking the equation mod $15$ gives $2^a \equiv \{1,4\} \pmod{15}, 3^b \equiv \{3,12\} \pmod{15}, 5^c \equiv 5 \pmod{5}$ (from the parities above). One can easily check that no combination of these residues sums to $0$ mod $15$.

If $n < 5$, a finite case check gives the solutions listed above. From now, we assume $n \geq 5$. First, assume $b < 1$, or $b=0$. Then, $2^a+5^c+1 = n!$. If $c = 0$, then $2^a+2=n!$, which is impossible since $2^a+2$ is never divisible by $8$. Thus, $c \geq 1$. Taking the equation mod $5$ gives $2^a +1  \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$, so $a \equiv 2 \pmod{4}$. However, mod $4$ gives $2 \equiv 0 \pmod{4}$, contradiction.

If $n \geq 5$ and $a < 3$, then we do casework on the value of $a$. If $a = 0$, we get $3^b+5^c+1$ is even, which is impossible. If $a=1$, we get $3^b+5^c+2 =n!$. Taking mod $4$ gives $(-1)^b+3 \equiv 0 \pmod{4}$, so $b$ is even. Taking mod $8$ gives $5^c + 3 \equiv 0 \pmod{8}$, so $c$ is odd. However, taking mod $5$ gives $3^b+2 \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$, so $b$ must be odd, contradiction. If $a=2$, then $3^b+5^c+4 = n!$. As before, mod $4$ gives $b$ odd, so mod $8$ gives $5^c+7 \equiv 0 \pmod{8}$, which is impossible. Thus, we have exhausted all cases and the above solutions are the only ones.

Remarks
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GeronimoStilton
1521 posts
#14 • 1 Y
Y by naman12
This was an amusing exercise in bashing.

Consider some solution $(a,b,c,n)$. Remark that $2^a+3^b+5^c \ge 1+1+1 = 3$, so $n\ge 3$. Additionally, remark $2\mid n!-3^b-5^c$, so $a\ge 1$. Let $a=k+1$.

Claim: We have $n\le 4$.

Solution: Suppose otherwise.

Consider the case $a=1$. Rearranging yields $3^b+5^c=n!-2$. Take modulo $4$ to get $3^b+1\equiv 2\pmod{4}$, hence $b$ is even. In the case $c\ge 1$, we could take modulo $5$ to get $3^b\equiv 3\pmod{5}$, which can't occur if $b$ is even. Hence, we have $c=0$ and $3^b=n!-3$. This has no solution if $n=5$, so we may assume $n\ge 6$. Then, $3^b\equiv n!-3\equiv 6\pmod{9}$, which is absurd.

Now, we may assume $a\ge 2$. Take modulo $4$ to get $3^b+1\equiv 0\pmod{4}$, so $b$ is odd. Take modulo $5$ to get $2^a+3^b\equiv 0\pmod{5}$. Since $b$ is odd, $3^b\equiv 2,3\pmod{5}$, implying that $2^a\equiv 2,3\pmod{5}$ and $a$ is odd as well. In particular, this implies $a\ge 3$. Take modulo $8$ to get $3+5^c\equiv 0\pmod{8}$, which implies $c$ is odd. Take modulo $3$ to get $2+5\equiv 0\pmod{3}$, which is false. Hence, there are no solutions for $n\ge 5$, and we are done. $\fbox{}$

Now, we have the bound $3\le n\le 4$.

Case 1: We have $n=3$. Then, we have $6=2^a+3^b+5^c \ge 1+1+5^c=2+5^c$. This implies $c=0$, so $5=2^a+3^b \ge 2^a+1$. This implies $1\le a\le 2$. Taking $a=1$ gives $(a,b,c,n) = (1,1,0,3)$ and taking $a=2$ gives $(2,0,0,3)$. These constitute all possibilities in this scenario.

Case 2: We have $n=4$. Then, we have $24=2^a+3^b+5^c \ge 1+1+5^c=2+5^c$. This implies $c\le 1$, so $c\in \{0,1\}$.

Subcase 1: We have $c=0$. Rearrange to get $23=2^a+3^b \ge 1+3^b$. This implies $b\le 2$. Taking $b=2$ gives no solution, taking $b=1$ gives no solution, and taking $b=0$ gives no solution, hence there are no solutions in this case.

Subcase 2: We have $c=1$. Rearrange to get $19=2^a+3^b\ge 1+3^b$. This implies $b\le 2$. Taking $b=2$ gives no solution, taking $b=1$ gives $a=4$, and taking $b=0$ gives no solution, hence we have the solution $(a,b,c,n) = (4,1,1,4)$.

We have considered all cases, so the solutions are $(a,b,c,n) = (1,1,0,3), (2,0,0,3),(4,1,1,4)$.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by GeronimoStilton, Jul 19, 2020, 4:51 PM
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dchenmathcounts
2443 posts
#15
Y by
This is just low brain. The solutions are $(2,0,0,3),(1,1,0,3),(4,1,1,4).$ We show $n\geq 5$ has no solutions.

By mod $4,$ $3^b+5^c\equiv 3^b+1\equiv 0\pmod{4},$ so $b\equiv 1\pmod{2}.$ Thus by mod $8,$ $c\equiv 1\pmod{2}$ as well. By mod $5,$ $2^a+3^b\equiv 0\pmod{5},$ implying $a\equiv b\pmod{4},$ or $a\equiv b\equiv 1\pmod{2}.$ But by mod $3,$ $2^a+5^c\equiv 2^a+2^c\equiv 0\pmod{3},$ implying that $c\equiv 0\pmod{2},$ which is a contradiction.
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fidgetboss_4000
3472 posts
#16
Y by
Wow, yet another “oly NT problem” trivialized just by taking mods of small numbers
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IAmTheHazard
5000 posts
#17 • 2 Y
Y by son7, centslordm
For $n \leq 4$, we can manually check everything, finding that the only solutions are $(a,b,c,n)=(2,0,0,3),(1,1,0,3),(4,1,1,4)$.

We now eliminate any $n \geq 5$.
First take $\pmod{3}$. We see that $(-1)^a+(-1)^c \equiv 0 \pmod{3}$, so $a$ and $c$ are opposite parity.
Taking $\pmod{4}$ gives the following:
If $a=0$ then the LHS is odd, but for $n \geq 5$, $n!$ is even: contradiction
If $a=1$, then the LHS becomes $3+(-1)^b$ and the RHS is $0$, so we get $b$ even. However, we also get that $c$ is even from the opposite parity condition. But then, taking $\pmod{8}$ gets that the LHS is $4$, while the RHS is $0$ because $n \geq 5$: contradiction.
So we have $a \geq 2$. then the LHS becomes $1+(-1)^b$ and the RHS is $0$, so $b$ is odd.
Now consider $\pmod{8}$.
If $a=2$, then $c$ is odd, so $5^c \equiv 5 \pmod{8}$. Since we know $b$ is odd, we see that $3^b \equiv 3 \pmod{8}$, so the LHS is equal to $4$ but the RHS must be $0$: contradiction.
So $a \geq 3$. Then we get $5^c + 3^b \equiv 5^c+3 \pmod{8}$. Since the RHS is $0$, we have $5^c \equiv 5 \pmod{8}$, which implies that $c$ is odd and $a$ is even.

Therefore, $a$ is even, $b$ is odd, and $c$ is odd. Let $a=2x,b=2y+1,c=2z+1$. Then the condition rewrites as:
$$4^x+3\cdot 9^y+5\cdot 25^z = n!$$Now, taking $\pmod{5}$, we see that $(-1)^x+3\cdot (-1)^y \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$. However, we can easily verify that this has no solutions. Thus any $n \geq 5$ fails. $\blacksquare$
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jeteagle
480 posts
#19 • 1 Y
Y by kevinmathz
Solved this when I was sleeping lel.

When $n \le 4$, we see that the solutions are $(a, b, c, n) = (2, 0, 0, 3), (1, 1, 0, 3), (4, 1, 1, 4).$

We will now prove that any $n \ge 5$ won't have any solutions. Notice how $n! \equiv 0 \pmod 8, n! \equiv 0 \pmod 3, n! \equiv 0 \pmod 5.$
First, if $b \ge 1$ with $\mod 3$, we see that $2^a+5^c \equiv (-1)^a+(-1)^c \equiv 0 \pmod 3$ which means $a$ and $c$ have different parities.
Next, if we take $\mod 8$, we have two cases.

Case 1: $2^a \equiv 4 \pmod 8, 3^b+5^c \equiv 4 \pmod 8.$
We immediately see that $a = 2$. Next, for $3^b+5^c \equiv 4 \pmod 8$, we must have $3^b \equiv 3 \pmod 8$ and $5^c \equiv 1 \pmod 8$, which means $c \equiv 0 \pmod 2$. Because $b \ge 1$ as $b \equiv 1 \pmod 2$, we see that $a$ and $c$ have the same parity, a contradiction.

Case 2: $3^b+5^c \equiv 0 \pmod 8.$
We must have $3^b \equiv 3 \pmod 8$ and $5^c \equiv 5 \pmod 8$ in this case, which is equivalent to $b \equiv c \equiv 1\pmod 2$. Because $b \ge 1$, we have $a$ and $c$ must be different parities, so $a$ is even. Finally, if we take $\mod 5$, we see that $2^a \equiv 4, 1\pmod 5$, while $3^b \equiv 3, 2 \pmod 5$, a because $2^a+3^b \equiv 0 \pmod 5$, we have a contradiction.

Therefore, the only solutions are the ones stated above when $n \le 4.$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by jeteagle, Jan 1, 2021, 5:12 PM
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pad
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#20
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When $n \le 4$, it can be confirmed that the solutions are $(a, b, c, n) = (2, 0, 0, 3), (1, 1, 0, 3), (4, 1, 1, 4)$. Henceforth assume $n\ge 5$.
  • Case 1: $a\ge 2$. Then mod 4 gives $(-1)^b+1\equiv 0 \pmod4$, so $b$ is odd; let $b=2k+1$ for some $k\ge 0$. If $a$ is even, then $4^{a/2}+3\cdot 9^k+5^c=n!$, so taking mod 5 gives $(-1)^{a/2} + 3(-1)^k \equiv 0 \pmod5$. This is impossible since the LHS is even and absolutely bounded by 4. Hence $a$ is odd; let $a=2\ell+1$ for some $\ell\ge 0$. Now $2\cdot 4^\ell+3\cdot 9^k+5^c=n!$, so taking mod 3 gives $2+(-1)^c \equiv 0 \pmod3$. Hence $c$ is even; let $c=2m$ for some $m\ge 0$. Now the equation becomes $2\cdot 4^\ell+3\cdot 9^k+25^m=n!$. Then mod 8 gives $2\cdot 4^\ell +3+1 \equiv 0 \pmod8$, but this is impossible both when $\ell=0$ and $\ell\ge 1$.
  • Case 2: $a=1$. The equation is $3^b+5^c=n!-2$. Then mod 4 gives $(-1)^b+1\equiv -2\pmod4$, so $b$ is even; let $b=2k$ for some $k\ge 0$. Taking instead mod 3 gives $(-1)^c\equiv -2\pmod3$, so $c$ is even; let $c=2m$ for some $m\ge 0$. The equation is $9^k+25^m=n!-2$. Taking mod 8 gives $2\equiv -2\pmod8$, contradiction.
  • Case 3: $a=0$. The equation is $3^b+5^c=n!-1$. Now mod 4 gives $(-1)^b+1\equiv -1\pmod4$, contradiction.
So there are no solutions for $n\ge 5$, and we conclude.
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AMN300
563 posts
#21
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First suppose $n \le 4$. $n=0, 1, 2$ clearly yield no solutions since then the left hand side is less than 3.
-If $n=3$ we have $2^a + 3^b + 5^c = 6$, so $c \le 1$. $c=1$ means $2^a+3^b=1$ which can't hold. So $c=0$. We want to solve $2^a+3^b=5$ and we can check that the solutions are $\boxed{a=1,b=1,c=0,n=3}$ and $\boxed{a=2,b=0,c=0,n=3}$ by inspection.
-If $n=4$ we have $2^a + 3^b + 5^c = 24$, so $c \le 1$.
--If $c=0$ then $2^a+3^b=23$, so $b \le 2$, but we can check there are no solutions by hand.
--If $c=1$ then $2^a+3^b=19$. Thus $b \le 2$. We can check by inspection that the only solution is $\boxed{a=4,b=1,c=1,n=4}$.

If $a=0$ and $n \ge 5$: then $1+3^b+5^c=n!$. The left hand side is odd and the right hand side is even, contradiction.

If $b=0$ and $n \ge 5$: then $2^a+5^c+1=n!$. We have already done the case $a=0$.
-If $a=1$ then we want to solve $5^c+3=n!$, but the left hand side is not $0 \pmod{3}$ and the right hand side is, contradiction.
-If $a \ge 2$ then we have $1^c+1 \equiv 0 \pmod{4}$ which cannot hold.

If $c=0$ and $n \ge 5$: we have already done the cases when $a=0$ or $b=0$, so $a, b \ge 1$. Now $(-1)^a+1 \equiv 0 \pmod{3}$ so $a$ is odd.
-If $a=1$ then we want to solve $3+3^b = n!$. The left hand side is not divisible by $9$ but the right hand side is, contradiction.
-If $a \ge 2$ then since $a$ is odd, $a \ge 3$. Then we have $3^b+1 \equiv 0 \pmod{8}$ which is not possible.

Thus $a,b,c \ge 1$ and $n \ge 5$: then $(-1)^a + (-1)^c \equiv 0 \pmod{3}$, so $a, c$ have opposite parity.
-If $a=1$ then by the above, $c$ is even. Now $2+(-2)^b \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$, so $b \equiv 1 \pmod{4}$, so $b$ is odd. But $2+3^b+(-3)^c \equiv 0 \pmod{8}$. But $b$ is odd and $c$ is even so the left hand side is $2+3+1 = 6 \pmod{8}$, contradiction.
-If $a=2$ then by the above, $c$ is odd. Now $4+(-2)^b \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$ so $b$ is even. Then $4+3^b+(-3)^c \equiv 0 \pmod{8}$. But $b$ is even and $c$ is odd so the left hand side is $4+1+5 = 10 \pmod{8}$, contradiction.
-If $a \ge 3$ then $2^a \equiv 0 \pmod{4}$, so $(-1)^b+1 \equiv 0 \pmod{4}$, so $b$ is odd. Then $2^a+(-2)^b \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$. This means $a \equiv 1 \pmod{4}$, so $a$ is odd. Therefore $c$ is even. Since $a \ge 3$, $2^a \equiv 0 \pmod{8}$ so $3^b+(-3)^c \equiv 0 \pmod{8}$. But $b$ is odd and $c$ is even, so the left hand side is $3+1 = 4 \pmod{8}$, contradiction.
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megarnie
5542 posts
#22
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If $n<4$, we can find that the only solutions are $(a,b,c,n)$ $\boxed{(2,0,0,3)}$, $\boxed{(1,1,0,3)}$.

If $n=4$, we have $c<2, a<5, b<3$. If $c=0$, we find that there are no solutions by testing out values for $b$. If $c=1$, then we find no solutions unless $b=1$. Therefore, $\boxed{(4,1,1,4)}$ is the only solution when $n=4$.

Now it remains to find all solutions when $n>4$. We can take powers of $2,3,5$ $\pmod{120}$.

$2^a$ $\{1,2,4,8,16,32,64\}$
$3^b$ $\{1,3,9,27,81\}$
$5^c$ $\{1,5,25\}$.
No three add up to $0\pmod{120}$ so we are done.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by megarnie, Mar 6, 2022, 1:16 AM
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HamstPan38825
8857 posts
#23 • 1 Y
Y by megarnie
Assume $n \geq 5$. Mod 5, we we have $$2^a + 3^b \equiv 0 \pmod 5,$$which implies that $a, b$ must be the same parity. Mod 3, we have $$2^a+5^c \equiv 0 \pmod 3,$$implying that $a$ and $c$ must be opposite parity. Now assume $a \geq 2$ -- then mod 4, $$3^b + 5^c \equiv 0 \pmod 4,$$implies that $b$ and $c$ are the same parity mod 5. Combined with the previous two facts, this is an obvious contradiction.

Now we get rid of edge cases. If $a=1$, then we have $$3^b + 5^c + 2 = n!.$$Modulo 120, $3^b+5^c \equiv 118 \pmod {120}$. But since $3^b \equiv 3, 9, 27, 81 \pmod {120}$ and $5^c \equiv 5, 25 \pmod {120}$, no combination of the two can attain 118, contradiction. Thus we only need to consider $n \leq 4$.

For $n=4$, $3^b+5^c=22$ has no solutions. For $n=3$, $3^b+5^c=4$ solves to get $(b, c) = (1, 0)$; for any smaller $n$, there are also no solutions. Thus we have exhausted this case.

Now, we consider $$2^a+3^b+5^c = 24.$$If $c=1, 2^a+3^b=19$, and if $b=1$ we obtain $a=4$ works. If $c=0$, then $2^a+3^b=23$, which has no solutions. For $n=3$, we also have the solution $(a, b, c)=(2, 0, 0)$. Thus the answers are $(4, 1, 1, 4)$, $(1, 1, 0, 3)$ and $(2, 0, 0, 3)$.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by HamstPan38825, Sep 5, 2021, 2:40 AM
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OlyMan
124 posts
#25
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The casework solutions are quite good, but mod 120 also works very well. The only solutions are $(a,b,c,n)=(1,1,0,3),(2,0,0,3),(4,1,1,4).$ These clearly work. Now we analyse $2^{a},3^{b},5^{c}\pmod{120}$. We get $2^{a}\equiv \{1,2,4,8,16,32,64\}\pmod {120}$, $3^{b}\equiv \{1,3,9,27,81\}\pmod {120}$ and $5^{c}\equiv \{1,5,25\}\pmod {120}$. Now, clearly, we have $2^{a}+3^{b}+5^{c}$ is not congruent to $0$ mod 120, so there exist no non-negative integer $a,b,c$ which satisfy $2^{a}+3^{b}+5^{c} =5!$. But we have $(n-1)!$ divides $n!$ for all $n.$ Hence no interger $n > 5$ satisfies the equation. We are done. $\boxed{}$
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by OlyMan, Oct 14, 2021, 12:01 PM
Reason: Typo
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OlyMan
124 posts
#26
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sunfishho wrote:
v_Enhance wrote:
A tricky way to do this is to take modulo $120$, since \begin{align*} 	2^a \pmod{120} &\in \{ 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 \} \\ 	3^b \pmod{120} &\in \{ 1, 3, 9, 27, 81 \} \\ 	5^c \pmod{120} &\in \{ 1, 5, 25 \} \end{align*}and by inspection one notes that no three elements have vanishing sum modulo $120$.
Just wondering, what is the motivation for picking 120?

Isn't that "intuitive", what I did was that I found the possible sols and then tried to find sols for n=5 , but ofc could not succeed, and I though about the fact (n-1)! divides n! .
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VulcanForge
626 posts
#28
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Pure. Spammage.

By inspection we see for $n\le 4$ the solutions are $(a,b,c,n)=(1,1,0,3),(2,0,0,3),(4,1,1,4)$. We undergo pain in order to show there are no solutions when $n \ge 5$.

If $a \ge 3$ then taking$\pmod{4}$ gives $b$ odd, and then taking$\pmod{8}$ gives $c$ odd, so we're solving $2^a+3\cdot 9^{b'}+5\cdot 25^{c'}=n!$. Taking$\pmod{3}$ gives $a$ even, and then$\pmod{5}$ gives $(-1)^{a'}+3\cdot (-1)^{b'} \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$: this is impossible.

If $a=2$ then$\pmod{4}$ gives $b$ odd, and then (noting that $c>0$, otherwise$\pmod{3}$ gives a contradiction)$\pmod{5}$ gives $4+3 \cdot (-1)^{b'} \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$: this is impossible.

If $a=1$ then$\pmod{4}$ gives $b$ even, and then (noting that $c>0$, otherwise$\pmod{8}$ gives a contradiction)$\pmod{5}$ gives $2+(-1)^b \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$: this is impossible.

If $a=0$ then $2^a+3^b+5^c$ is odd.
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sanyalarnab
924 posts
#29
Y by
Cute one!
For $n\le 4$, just case bash to get some (a,b,c,n). Please search up for those. Real fun is for showing no solutions for $n\ge 5$.
Assume FTSOC $n\ge 5$.
Then $n! \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$
$\implies 2^a+3^b+5^c \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$
$\implies 2^a \equiv -3^b \pmod{5}$ (*)
Now $n! = 2^a+3^b+5^c \equiv 2^a+(-1)^b+1 \equiv 0 \pmod{4}$
If b is even,
$2^a \equiv 2 \pmod{4}$
This implies $a=1$.
Thus putting in (*),
$3^b \equiv 3 \pmod{5}$
$\implies 9^m \equiv 3 \pmod{5}$, where $b=2m$ for some natural $m$.
This is not possible for any $m$ and hence a contradiction to the assumption that $b$ is even.
Hence $\boxed{\text{b Is odd!}}$.
This gives in (*) $\implies 2^a \equiv (-3)^b \pmod{5}$
$\implies 2^a \equiv 2^b \pmod{5}$
$\implies 2^{a-b} \equiv 1 \pmod{5}$
If $a-b$ is odd,
$2^{a-b} \equiv \{2,3\} \pmod{5}$, which is not possible.
Hence, $a-b$ is even, or $\boxed{\text{a is odd!}}$.
Now $n!=2^a+3^b+5^c \equiv (-1)^a+(-1)^c \equiv -1+(-1)^c \equiv 0 \pmod{3}$
$\implies (-1)^c \equiv 1 \pmod{3}$
Hence $\boxed{\text{c is even!}}$.
Final move: checking (mod 8).
$n! \equiv 2^a+3^b+5^c \equiv 2^a+3+1 \equiv 0 \pmod{8}$
$\implies 2^a \equiv 4 \pmod{8}$
This immediately implies $a=2$ which is not odd. Contradiction on the initial assumption that $n\ge 5$. So done!
Remark: this problem was good but is it good enough for a TST#4?? It's just spamming modulo 3,4,5,8! That's all!
This post has been edited 4 times. Last edited by sanyalarnab, Oct 27, 2021, 4:58 PM
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Mogmog8
1080 posts
#30 • 1 Y
Y by centslordm
Assume FTSOC $n\ge 5,$ noting $2^a+3^b+5^c\equiv n!\equiv 0\pmod{120}.$ We see $2^a\equiv 1,2,4,8,16,32,64\pmod{120},$ $3^b\equiv 1,3,27,81\pmod{120},$ and $5^c\equiv 1,5,25\pmod{120}.$ Since $64+27+25<120,$ we know $2^b\equiv 81\pmod{120}$ so $2^a+5^c\equiv 39\pmod{120},$ which is absurd. Hence, $n=1,2,3,4.$

Case 1: $n=1.$ Note $2^a+3^b+5^c\ge 1+1+1=3$ so we have no solutions.

Case 2: $n=2.$ Note $2^a+3^b+5^c\ge 3>2!$ so we have no solutions.

Case 3: $n=3.$ We proceed by casework on $a.$ If $a=0,$ we have no solutions. If $a=1,$ $(1,1,0,3)$ works. If $a=2,$ $(2,0,0,3)$ works.

Case 4: $n=4.$ Again, we use caswork on $a.$ If $a=0,1,2,3$ we have no solutions. If $a=4,$ $b=c=1$ or $(4,1,1,4)$ works.

Our solutions are $(a,b,c,n)=\boxed{(1,1,0,3),(2,0,0,3),(4,1,1,4)}.$ $\square$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Mogmog8, Mar 6, 2022, 1:14 AM
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jasperE3
11136 posts
#31
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Exhaustive casework.

Case 1: $a\ge3$ and $n\ge5$
Taking$\pmod8$, we have:
$$3^b+(-3)^c\equiv0\pmod8.$$Let $b=2y+e_1$ and $c=2z+e_2$ with $\{e_1,e_2\}\subseteq\{0,1\}$, then $3^{e_1}+(-3)^{e_2}\equiv0\pmod8$, so $e_1=e_2=0$. Then:
$$2^a+9^y+25^z=n!.$$Taking$\pmod3$ gives:
$$(-1)^a\equiv-1\pmod3$$so $a$ is odd. Let $a=2x+3$ for some $x\ge0$, then:
$$8\cdot4^x+9^y+25^z=n!.$$Finally,$\pmod5$ gives:
$$3\cdot(-1)^x+(-1)^y\equiv0\pmod5,$$a contradiction (since this is impossible for any $x$ and $y$).

Case 2: $a\le2$ and $n\ge5$
Case 2.1: $a=0$ and $n\ge5$
We have:
$$1+3^b+5^c=n!.$$By$\pmod4$, we have $2+(-1)^b\equiv0\pmod4$, so no solutions exist in this case.

Case 2.2: $a=1$ and $n\ge5$
We have:
$$2+3^b+5^c=n!.$$By$\pmod4$, $3+(-1)^b\equiv0\pmod4$ and so $b$ is even. Let $b=2y$.
By$\pmod3$, $2+(-1)^c\equiv0\pmod3$ and so $c$ is even. Let $c=2z$.
The equation transforms into:
$$2+9^y+25^z=n!.$$By$\pmod8$, $4\equiv0\pmod8$ which is absurd. Hence no solutions.

Case 2.3: $a=2$ and $n\ge5$
We have:
$$4+3^b+5^c=n!.$$By$\pmod4$, $(-1)^b+1\equiv0\pmod4$ and so $b$ is odd. Let $b=2y+1$.
By$\pmod5$, $-1+3\cdot(-1)^y\equiv0\pmod5$ which is impossible.

Case 3: $n\le4$
Case 3.1: $n\in\{0,1,2\}$
This is also impossible as:
$$n!=2^a+3^b+5^c\ge1+1+1=3.$$
Case 3.2: $n=3$
Then $2^a+3^b+5^c=6$, so $5^c\le6$. This means that $c\le1$. If $c=1$ then $2^a+3^b=1$ which has no solutions. If $c=0$ then $2^a+3^b=5$, so $b\le1$. If $b=1$ then $a=1$, whereas if $b=0$ then $a=2$, which gives that $(a,b,c,n)=\boxed{(2,0,0,3)}$ and $\boxed{(1,1,0,3)}$ are solutions

Case 3.3: $n=4$
Then $2^a+3^b+5^c=24$, so $c\le1$.
If $c=0$ then $2^a+3^b=23$, so $b\le2$. For each of these cases there is no corresponding value of $a$ that works.
If $c=1$ then $2^a+3^b=19$, so $b\le2$. If $b=0$ or $b=2$ no solutions exist, but if $b=1$ we have that $(a,b,c,n)=\boxed{(4,1,1,4)}$ is a solution.
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kamatadu
465 posts
#32 • 1 Y
Y by HoripodoKrishno
O maa gu turu lob! I never knew $\pmod{120}$ had such nice modulos for powers for $2$, $3$ and $5$.

For $n\ge 5$, take $\pmod{120}$ to get the following powers:
\begin{align*}
    2^a&\equiv\left\{1,2,4,8,16,32,64\right\}\pmod{120}\\
    3^b&\equiv\left\{1,3,9,27,81\right\}\pmod{120}\\
    5^c&\equiv\left\{1,5,25\right\}\pmod{120}
.\end{align*}
Now some case bashing shows none of these actually work (in other words left for the reader to prove :rotfl: ). Now finally some more case bashing for $4!$ and $3!$ (the ones below these don't work due to size reasons) show that $\boxed{(3,2,0,0)}$, $\boxed{(3,1,1,0)}$ and $\boxed{(4,4,1,1)}$ are the only ones that actually work for the tuples of $(n,a,b,c)$ respectively (which is again left for the reader to prove :rotfl: ) and we are done.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by kamatadu, Apr 15, 2023, 6:15 PM
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F10tothepowerof34
195 posts
#33
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Claim: The only solutions are $\boxed{(a,b,c,n)=(1,1,0,3), (2,0,0,3), (4,1,1,4)}$
Proof:
After a manual check, the only solutions for $n\le4$, are the ones stated in the claim, so from now on, $FTSOC$ assume $n\ge5$

Part 1: Taking$\pmod 4$
$2^a+3^b+5^c\equiv 3+1 \pmod 4 \Longleftrightarrow 3^b\equiv 3 \pmod 4$ however this in only possible when $b\equiv 1 \pmod 2$, thus $b$ is odd.
Part 2: Taking$\pmod 5$
$2^a+3^b+5^c\equiv 0 \pmod 5\Longleftrightarrow 2^a\equiv -3^b$ furthermore, since $b$ is odd, we can rewrite the expression as $2^a\equiv \left(-3\right)^b \pmod 5$ thus since $b$ is odd, $\left(-3\right)^b\equiv 2,3 \pmod 5$, which forces $2^a\equiv 2,3 \pmod 5$ which implies that $a\equiv 1\pmod 2$, or $a$ is odd.
Part 3: Taking $\pmod 3$
$2^a+3^b+5^c\equiv (-1)^a+0+(-1)^c\pmod 3 \Longrightarrow n!\equiv 0\equiv (-1)^a+(-1)^c\pmod 3$ thus $a$ and $c$ are pairwise distinct, however this forces $c\equiv 0\pmod 2$ or $c$ to be even, from the fact that $a$ is odd.
Part 4 (final part): Taking $\pmod 8$
$n!=2^a+3^b+5^c\equiv 4+3+1\equiv0\pmod 8$, thus$2^a\equiv 4\pmod8$ however this is only possible when $a=2$, which contradicts the previously statement that $a$ is odd. Thus we have reached a contradiction, so there exist no solution for $n\ge5$ $\blacksquare$
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huashiliao2020
1292 posts
#34
Y by
lol just throw random things at the board until it sticks

Note that $(n,a,b,c,)=(3,2,0,0),(3,1,1,0),(4,4,1,1)$ are the only solutions manually caseworked for $n<5$, so assume henceforth that n is at least 5. We see $$2^a\equiv 1,2,4,8,16,32,64\pmod{120},3^b\equiv 1,3,27,81\pmod{120},5^c\equiv 1,5,25\pmod{120}.$$$$64+27+25<120\implies 3^b\equiv 81\pmod{120}\implies 2^a+5^c\equiv 39\pmod{120},$$which can be checked to see that it doesn't work, so our only solutions are indeed the ones listed above.

I also had a decently long casework bash but its just elementary techniques and since I'm not going to learn anything from it (usually imo diophantine you don't really need any skill its like fe but usually easier) i wont type it up
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by huashiliao2020, Aug 9, 2023, 6:59 PM
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Captain_Baran
36 posts
#35
Y by
$\textcolor{red}{Claim:}$ $n<5.$
$\textcolor{red}{Proof:}$ Assume $n\geq5.$ Then if $a\geq1$ we have $3^{b}+5^{c}\equiv0\pmod 4$ and $b\equiv c\equiv 1\pmod 2.$
Say $b=2b_1+1$ and $c=2c_1+1.$ Then if we look at the expression in modulo 3 we see $2^{a}+5\equiv0\pmod3$ and, $a\equiv 0\pmod 2.$ Say $a=2a_1.$ Then in modulo 5 we have $2^{2a_1}+3^{2b_1+1}\equiv 0\pmod 5.$ Since $2^{2a_1}\equiv\{4,1\}$ and $3^{2b_1+1}\equiv\{3,2\}$ we have a contradiction and $a$ must be $0$ and $b=4b_2+1$.
Now let's solve $2+3^{4b_2+1}+5^{2c_1+1}$ Looking at the expression in modulo 9 gives us $5^{2c_1+1}\equiv7\pmod9$ and $c=6k+2$ but since $c=2c_1+1=6k+2$ means $c\equiv1\equiv0\pmod 2$ we have a contradiction. b must be equal to 0. Now we have $5+5^{2c_1+1}=n!$ but for $n\geq5$ this means $10\equiv 0\pmod 3.$ Contradiction. Our claim is right.

Now let's solve for $n\leq4$:
For $n=4,$ we have $3^{b}+5^{c}=\{14,8,6,10,4,2\}$. In this case only $\{a,b,c,n\}=\{4,1,1,4\}$ is possible.
For $n=3$ we have $2^{a}+3^{b}={5,4,3,2}$. Only $2^{a}+3^{b}=5$ meaning either $\{a,b,c,n\}=\{2,0,0,3\}$ or $\{a,b,c,n\}=\{1,1,0,3\}$ is possible in this case.
For $n\leq2$ we have $n!\leq 2$ but $2^{a}+3^{b}+5^{c}\geq 3$ a contradiction. The only possible solutions are $\{a,b,c,n\}=\boxed{\{4,1,1,4\}},\boxed{\{2,0,0,3\}},\boxed{\{1,1,0,3\}}.$
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by Captain_Baran, Sep 8, 2023, 11:00 AM
Reason: Typo
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dolphinday
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#36
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We claim that the only solutions are $(a, b, c, n) = (1, 1, 0, 3), (2, 0, 0, 3), (4, 1, 1, 4)$.
There are clearly no other solutions for $a, b, c, n \leq 4$. (Feeling kind of lazy)

Taking $\pmod{120}$ for $n > 4$, then

\[2^a + 3^b + 5^c \equiv 0\pmod{12}\]
\[2^a \equiv 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64\pmod{120}\]
\[3^b \equiv 3, 9, 27, 81\pmod{120}\]
\[5^c \equiv 5, 25\pmod{120}\].

By inspection, none of these add up to $0\pmod{120}$, so it is impossible for $n > 4$.

Hence, the only solutions are $(a, b, c, n) = (1, 1, 0, 3), (2, 0, 0, 3), (4, 1, 1, 4)$.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by dolphinday, Oct 20, 2023, 5:54 PM
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joshualiu315
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#37
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The solutions are

\begin{align*}
(a,b,c, n) &= (2,0,0,3) \\
&= (1,1,0,3) \\
&= (4, 1, 1, 4)
\end{align*}
Notice that if $n \le 4$, we can manually check each case and find each of the above solutions. We will prove that there are no more solutions for $n>4$. For each $n>4$, note that

\[120 \mid n! = 2^a+3^b+5^c.\]
However, analyzing each of the residues of each individual power, we see that none of them cancel modulo $120$. Thus, there are no solutions when $n>4$.
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mannshah1211
651 posts
#38
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Ah yes, the famous 5M TSTST problem.
Assume that $n \ge 5$.
We'll analyze modulo $120$. $2^a$ modulo $60$ is $\{1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64\}$, $3^b$ modulo $120$ is $\{1, 3, 9, 27, 81\}$, and $5^c$ modulo $120$ is $\{ 1, 5, 25 \}$. Note that the max sum of residues is $170,$ which means that our residue sum must be exactly $120$. Note that if the second residue is $\le 27,$ then the max sum of residues is $116 < 120,$ so our second residue must be $81$. Then, the sum of the remaining residues must be $39$. Note that this isn't possible (just check that none of $39 - 1, 39 - 5, 39 - 25$ appear in the first set), so there's no solutions for $n \ge 5$. It remains to find the solutions for $n \le 4$. For $n \in \{0, 1, 2 \},$ $2 \ge n! = 2^a + 3^b + 5^c \ge 3,$ clearly a contradiction. So, only cases remaining are $n = 3,$ and $n = 4$. For $n = 3,$ we have $2^a + 3^b + 5^c = 6,$ which gives solution $(a, b, c) = (1, 1, 0), (2, 0, 0).$ For $n = 4,$ we have $2^a + 3^b + 5^c = 24,$ whic gives solution $(a, b, c) = (4, 1, 1).$ So, the only solutions are $(a, b, c, n) = (2, 0, 0, 3), (1, 1, 0, 3), (4, 1, 1, 4).$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by mannshah1211, Jan 17, 2024, 6:29 PM
Reason: Forgot the (2, 0, 0, 3) trivial solution :( I need sleep
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Cusofay
85 posts
#39
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First we can see that $(a,b,c,n)\in\{(1,1,0,3),(2,0,0,3),(4,1,1,4) \}$ are the only solutions for $n\leq 4$. Now if $n\geq 5$. Mod $4$ implies $b$ is odd and mod $3$ gives us $a,c$ have different parities. If $c$ is even and $a,b$ are odd, taking the expression mod $8$ ends the case. If $a$ is even and $b,c$ are odd then mod $5$ ends the problem.

$$\mathbb{Q.E.D.}$$
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megahertz13
3177 posts
#40
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The only solutions are $(2,0,0)$, $(1,1,0)$, and $(4,1,1)$, which clearly work. One can manually check that these are the only solutions for $n\le 4$. Now we prove that there are no other solutions for $n\ge 5$.

The idea is to take $\mod {120}$. Note that $$2^a\pmod {120}\in \{1,2,4,8,16,32,64\}$$$$3^b\pmod {120}\in \{1,3,9,27,81\}$$$$5^c\pmod {120}\in \{1,3,9,27,81\}.$$Note that if you choose one element from each of these sets, they cannot sum to $0\pmod {120}$. However, $n\ge 5$ implies $$n!\equiv 0\pmod {120},$$done.
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ali123456
48 posts
#41 • 1 Y
Y by Hamzaachak
Beautiful
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by ali123456, Mar 26, 2025, 10:33 PM
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