Stay ahead of learning milestones! Enroll in a class over the summer!

G
Topic
First Poster
Last Poster
k a May Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
May 1, 2025
May is an exciting month! National MATHCOUNTS is the second week of May in Washington D.C. and our Founder, Richard Rusczyk will be presenting a seminar, Preparing Strong Math Students for College and Careers, on May 11th.

Are you interested in working towards MATHCOUNTS and don’t know where to start? We have you covered! If you have taken Prealgebra, then you are ready for MATHCOUNTS/AMC 8 Basics. Already aiming for State or National MATHCOUNTS and harder AMC 8 problems? Then our MATHCOUNTS/AMC 8 Advanced course is for you.

Summer camps are starting next month at the Virtual Campus in math and language arts that are 2 - to 4 - weeks in duration. Spaces are still available - don’t miss your chance to have an enriching summer experience. There are middle and high school competition math camps as well as Math Beasts camps that review key topics coupled with fun explorations covering areas such as graph theory (Math Beasts Camp 6), cryptography (Math Beasts Camp 7-8), and topology (Math Beasts Camp 8-9)!

Be sure to mark your calendars for the following upcoming events:
[list][*]May 9th, 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, Casework 2: Overwhelming Evidence — A Text Adventure, a game where participants will work together to navigate the map, solve puzzles, and win! All are welcome.
[*]May 19th, 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, What's Next After Beast Academy?, designed for students finishing Beast Academy and ready for Prealgebra 1.
[*]May 20th, 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Mathcamp 2025 Qualifying Quiz Part 1 Math Jam, Problems 1 to 4, join the Canada/USA Mathcamp staff for this exciting Math Jam, where they discuss solutions to Problems 1 to 4 of the 2025 Mathcamp Qualifying Quiz!
[*]May 21st, 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Mathcamp 2025 Qualifying Quiz Part 2 Math Jam, Problems 5 and 6, Canada/USA Mathcamp staff will discuss solutions to Problems 5 and 6 of the 2025 Mathcamp Qualifying Quiz![/list]
Our full course list for upcoming classes is below:
All classes run 7:30pm-8:45pm ET/4:30pm - 5:45pm PT unless otherwise noted.

Introductory: Grades 5-10

Prealgebra 1 Self-Paced

Prealgebra 1
Tuesday, May 13 - Aug 26
Thursday, May 29 - Sep 11
Sunday, Jun 15 - Oct 12
Monday, Jun 30 - Oct 20
Wednesday, Jul 16 - Oct 29

Prealgebra 2 Self-Paced

Prealgebra 2
Wednesday, May 7 - Aug 20
Monday, Jun 2 - Sep 22
Sunday, Jun 29 - Oct 26
Friday, Jul 25 - Nov 21

Introduction to Algebra A Self-Paced

Introduction to Algebra A
Sunday, May 11 - Sep 14 (1:00 - 2:30 pm ET/10:00 - 11:30 am PT)
Wednesday, May 14 - Aug 27
Friday, May 30 - Sep 26
Monday, Jun 2 - Sep 22
Sunday, Jun 15 - Oct 12
Thursday, Jun 26 - Oct 9
Tuesday, Jul 15 - Oct 28

Introduction to Counting & Probability Self-Paced

Introduction to Counting & Probability
Thursday, May 15 - Jul 31
Sunday, Jun 1 - Aug 24
Thursday, Jun 12 - Aug 28
Wednesday, Jul 9 - Sep 24
Sunday, Jul 27 - Oct 19

Introduction to Number Theory
Friday, May 9 - Aug 1
Wednesday, May 21 - Aug 6
Monday, Jun 9 - Aug 25
Sunday, Jun 15 - Sep 14
Tuesday, Jul 15 - Sep 30

Introduction to Algebra B Self-Paced

Introduction to Algebra B
Tuesday, May 6 - Aug 19
Wednesday, Jun 4 - Sep 17
Sunday, Jun 22 - Oct 19
Friday, Jul 18 - Nov 14

Introduction to Geometry
Sunday, May 11 - Nov 9
Tuesday, May 20 - Oct 28
Monday, Jun 16 - Dec 8
Friday, Jun 20 - Jan 9
Sunday, Jun 29 - Jan 11
Monday, Jul 14 - Jan 19

Paradoxes and Infinity
Mon, Tue, Wed, & Thurs, Jul 14 - Jul 16 (meets every day of the week!)

Intermediate: Grades 8-12

Intermediate Algebra
Sunday, Jun 1 - Nov 23
Tuesday, Jun 10 - Nov 18
Wednesday, Jun 25 - Dec 10
Sunday, Jul 13 - Jan 18
Thursday, Jul 24 - Jan 22

Intermediate Counting & Probability
Wednesday, May 21 - Sep 17
Sunday, Jun 22 - Nov 2

Intermediate Number Theory
Sunday, Jun 1 - Aug 24
Wednesday, Jun 18 - Sep 3

Precalculus
Friday, May 16 - Oct 24
Sunday, Jun 1 - Nov 9
Monday, Jun 30 - Dec 8

Advanced: Grades 9-12

Olympiad Geometry
Tuesday, Jun 10 - Aug 26

Calculus
Tuesday, May 27 - Nov 11
Wednesday, Jun 25 - Dec 17

Group Theory
Thursday, Jun 12 - Sep 11

Contest Preparation: Grades 6-12

MATHCOUNTS/AMC 8 Basics
Friday, May 23 - Aug 15
Monday, Jun 2 - Aug 18
Thursday, Jun 12 - Aug 28
Sunday, Jun 22 - Sep 21
Tues & Thurs, Jul 8 - Aug 14 (meets twice a week!)

MATHCOUNTS/AMC 8 Advanced
Sunday, May 11 - Aug 10
Tuesday, May 27 - Aug 12
Wednesday, Jun 11 - Aug 27
Sunday, Jun 22 - Sep 21
Tues & Thurs, Jul 8 - Aug 14 (meets twice a week!)

AMC 10 Problem Series
Friday, May 9 - Aug 1
Sunday, Jun 1 - Aug 24
Thursday, Jun 12 - Aug 28
Tuesday, Jun 17 - Sep 2
Sunday, Jun 22 - Sep 21 (1:00 - 2:30 pm ET/10:00 - 11:30 am PT)
Monday, Jun 23 - Sep 15
Tues & Thurs, Jul 8 - Aug 14 (meets twice a week!)

AMC 10 Final Fives
Sunday, May 11 - Jun 8
Tuesday, May 27 - Jun 17
Monday, Jun 30 - Jul 21

AMC 12 Problem Series
Tuesday, May 27 - Aug 12
Thursday, Jun 12 - Aug 28
Sunday, Jun 22 - Sep 21
Wednesday, Aug 6 - Oct 22

AMC 12 Final Fives
Sunday, May 18 - Jun 15

AIME Problem Series A
Thursday, May 22 - Jul 31

AIME Problem Series B
Sunday, Jun 22 - Sep 21

F=ma Problem Series
Wednesday, Jun 11 - Aug 27

WOOT Programs
Visit the pages linked for full schedule details for each of these programs!


MathWOOT Level 1
MathWOOT Level 2
ChemWOOT
CodeWOOT
PhysicsWOOT

Programming

Introduction to Programming with Python
Thursday, May 22 - Aug 7
Sunday, Jun 15 - Sep 14 (1:00 - 2:30 pm ET/10:00 - 11:30 am PT)
Tuesday, Jun 17 - Sep 2
Monday, Jun 30 - Sep 22

Intermediate Programming with Python
Sunday, Jun 1 - Aug 24
Monday, Jun 30 - Sep 22

USACO Bronze Problem Series
Tuesday, May 13 - Jul 29
Sunday, Jun 22 - Sep 1

Physics

Introduction to Physics
Wednesday, May 21 - Aug 6
Sunday, Jun 15 - Sep 14
Monday, Jun 23 - Sep 15

Physics 1: Mechanics
Thursday, May 22 - Oct 30
Monday, Jun 23 - Dec 15

Relativity
Mon, Tue, Wed & Thurs, Jun 23 - Jun 26 (meets every day of the week!)
0 replies
jlacosta
May 1, 2025
0 replies
k i Adding contests to the Contest Collections
dcouchman   1
N Apr 5, 2023 by v_Enhance
Want to help AoPS remain a valuable Olympiad resource? Help us add contests to AoPS's Contest Collections.

Find instructions and a list of contests to add here: https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c40244h1064480_contests_to_add
1 reply
dcouchman
Sep 9, 2019
v_Enhance
Apr 5, 2023
k i Zero tolerance
ZetaX   49
N May 4, 2019 by NoDealsHere
Source: Use your common sense! (enough is enough)
Some users don't want to learn, some other simply ignore advises.
But please follow the following guideline:


To make it short: ALWAYS USE YOUR COMMON SENSE IF POSTING!
If you don't have common sense, don't post.


More specifically:

For new threads:


a) Good, meaningful title:
The title has to say what the problem is about in best way possible.
If that title occured already, it's definitely bad. And contest names aren't good either.
That's in fact a requirement for being able to search old problems.

Examples:
Bad titles:
- "Hard"/"Medium"/"Easy" (if you find it so cool how hard/easy it is, tell it in the post and use a title that tells us the problem)
- "Number Theory" (hey guy, guess why this forum's named that way¿ and is it the only such problem on earth¿)
- "Fibonacci" (there are millions of Fibonacci problems out there, all posted and named the same...)
- "Chinese TST 2003" (does this say anything about the problem¿)
Good titles:
- "On divisors of a³+2b³+4c³-6abc"
- "Number of solutions to x²+y²=6z²"
- "Fibonacci numbers are never squares"


b) Use search function:
Before posting a "new" problem spend at least two, better five, minutes to look if this problem was posted before. If it was, don't repost it. If you have anything important to say on topic, post it in one of the older threads.
If the thread is locked cause of this, use search function.

Update (by Amir Hossein). The best way to search for two keywords in AoPS is to input
[code]+"first keyword" +"second keyword"[/code]
so that any post containing both strings "first word" and "second form".


c) Good problem statement:
Some recent really bad post was:
[quote]$lim_{n\to 1}^{+\infty}\frac{1}{n}-lnn$[/quote]
It contains no question and no answer.
If you do this, too, you are on the best way to get your thread deleted. Write everything clearly, define where your variables come from (and define the "natural" numbers if used). Additionally read your post at least twice before submitting. After you sent it, read it again and use the Edit-Button if necessary to correct errors.


For answers to already existing threads:


d) Of any interest and with content:
Don't post things that are more trivial than completely obvious. For example, if the question is to solve $x^{3}+y^{3}=z^{3}$, do not answer with "$x=y=z=0$ is a solution" only. Either you post any kind of proof or at least something unexpected (like "$x=1337, y=481, z=42$ is the smallest solution). Someone that does not see that $x=y=z=0$ is a solution of the above without your post is completely wrong here, this is an IMO-level forum.
Similar, posting "I have solved this problem" but not posting anything else is not welcome; it even looks that you just want to show off what a genius you are.

e) Well written and checked answers:
Like c) for new threads, check your solutions at least twice for mistakes. And after sending, read it again and use the Edit-Button if necessary to correct errors.



To repeat it: ALWAYS USE YOUR COMMON SENSE IF POSTING!


Everything definitely out of range of common sense will be locked or deleted (exept for new users having less than about 42 posts, they are newbies and need/get some time to learn).

The above rules will be applied from next monday (5. march of 2007).
Feel free to discuss on this here.
49 replies
ZetaX
Feb 27, 2007
NoDealsHere
May 4, 2019
Inspired by lbh_qys.
sqing   2
N 15 minutes ago by lbh_qys
Source: Own
Let $ a,b>0   $ . Prove that
$$ \frac{a}{a^2+a +b+1}+ \frac{b}{b^2+a +b+1}  \leq  \frac{1}{2} $$$$ \frac{a}{a^2+ab+a+b+1}+ \frac{b}{b^2+ab+a+b+1} \leq   \sqrt 2-1  $$$$\frac{a}{a^2+ab+a+1}+ \frac{b}{b^2+ab+b+1} \leq  \frac{2(2\sqrt 2-1)}{7} $$$$\frac{a}{a^2+ab+b+1}+ \frac{b}{b^2+ab+a+1} \leq  \frac{2(2\sqrt 2-1)}{7} $$
2 replies
sqing
2 hours ago
lbh_qys
15 minutes ago
So Many Terms
oVlad   7
N 37 minutes ago by NuMBeRaToRiC
Source: KöMaL A. 765
Find all functions $f:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$ which satisfy the following equality for all $x,y\in\mathbb{R}$ \[f(x)f(y)-f(x-1)-f(y+1)=f(xy)+2x-2y-4.\]Proposed by Dániel Dobák, Budapest
7 replies
oVlad
Mar 20, 2022
NuMBeRaToRiC
37 minutes ago
Cauchy like Functional Equation
ZETA_in_olympiad   3
N an hour ago by jasperE3
Find all functions $f:\bf R^{\geq 0}\to R$ such that $$f(x^2)+f(y^2)=f\left (\dfrac{x^2y^2-2xy+1}{x^2+2xy+y^2}\right)$$for all $x,y>0$ and $xy>1.$
3 replies
ZETA_in_olympiad
Aug 20, 2022
jasperE3
an hour ago
special polynomials and probability
harazi   12
N an hour ago by MathLuis
Source: USA TST 2005, Problem 3, created by Harazi and Titu
We choose random a unitary polynomial of degree $n$ and coefficients in the set $1,2,...,n!$. Prove that the probability for this polynomial to be special is between $0.71$ and $0.75$, where a polynomial $g$ is called special if for every $k>1$ in the sequence $f(1), f(2), f(3),...$ there are infinitely many numbers relatively prime with $k$.
12 replies
harazi
Jul 14, 2005
MathLuis
an hour ago
Hard to approach it !
BogG   131
N 2 hours ago by Giant_PT
Source: Swiss Imo Selection 2006
Let $\triangle ABC$ be an acute-angled triangle with $AB \not= AC$. Let $H$ be the orthocenter of triangle $ABC$, and let $M$ be the midpoint of the side $BC$. Let $D$ be a point on the side $AB$ and $E$ a point on the side $AC$ such that $AE=AD$ and the points $D$, $H$, $E$ are on the same line. Prove that the line $HM$ is perpendicular to the common chord of the circumscribed circles of triangle $\triangle ABC$ and triangle $\triangle ADE$.
131 replies
BogG
May 25, 2006
Giant_PT
2 hours ago
3-var inequality
sqing   2
N 2 hours ago by sqing
Source: Own
Let $ a,b,c>0 $ and $\frac{1}{a+1}+ \frac{1}{b+1}+\frac{1}{c+1}   \geq \frac{a+b +c}{2}   $ . Prove that
$$ \frac{1}{a+2}+ \frac{1}{b+2} + \frac{1}{c+2}\geq1$$
2 replies
sqing
3 hours ago
sqing
2 hours ago
2-var inequality
sqing   4
N 3 hours ago by sqing
Source: Own
Let $ a,b>0   $ . Prove that
$$\frac{a}{a^2+b+1}+ \frac{b}{b^2+a+1} \leq  \frac{2}{3} $$Thank lbh_qys.
4 replies
sqing
3 hours ago
sqing
3 hours ago
Combinatorics from EGMO 2018
BarishNamazov   27
N 3 hours ago by HamstPan38825
Source: EGMO 2018 P3
The $n$ contestant of EGMO are named $C_1, C_2, \cdots C_n$. After the competition, they queue in front of the restaurant according to the following rules.
[list]
[*]The Jury chooses the initial order of the contestants in the queue.
[*]Every minute, the Jury chooses an integer $i$ with $1 \leq i \leq n$.
[list]
[*]If contestant $C_i$ has at least $i$ other contestants in front of her, she pays one euro to the Jury and moves forward in the queue by exactly $i$ positions.
[*]If contestant $C_i$ has fewer than $i$ other contestants in front of her, the restaurant opens and process ends.
[/list]
[/list]
[list=a]
[*]Prove that the process cannot continue indefinitely, regardless of the Jury’s choices.
[*]Determine for every $n$ the maximum number of euros that the Jury can collect by cunningly choosing the initial order and the sequence of moves.
[/list]
27 replies
BarishNamazov
Apr 11, 2018
HamstPan38825
3 hours ago
Do you have any idea why they all call their problems' characters "Mykhailo"???
mshtand1   1
N 3 hours ago by sarjinius
Source: Ukrainian Mathematical Olympiad 2025. Day 2, Problem 10.7
In a row, $1000$ numbers \(2\) and $2000$ numbers \(-1\) are written in some order.
Mykhailo counted the number of groups of adjacent numbers, consisting of at least two numbers, whose sum equals \(0\).
(a) Find the smallest possible value of this number.
(b) Find the largest possible value of this number.

Proposed by Anton Trygub
1 reply
mshtand1
Mar 14, 2025
sarjinius
3 hours ago
Polynomial divisible by x^2+1
Miquel-point   2
N 3 hours ago by lksb
Source: Romanian IMO TST 1981, P1 Day 1
Consider the polynomial $P(X)=X^{p-1}+X^{p-2}+\ldots+X+1$, where $p>2$ is a prime number. Show that if $n$ is an even number, then the polynomial \[-1+\prod_{k=0}^{n-1} P\left(X^{p^k}\right)\]is divisible by $X^2+1$.

Mircea Becheanu
2 replies
1 viewing
Miquel-point
Apr 6, 2025
lksb
3 hours ago
D1030 : An inequalitie
Dattier   1
N 4 hours ago by lbh_qys
Source: les dattes à Dattier
Let $0<a<b<c<d$ reals, and $n \in \mathbb N^*$.

Is it true that $a^n(b-a)+b^n(c-b)+c^n(d-c) \leq \dfrac {d^{n+1}}{n+1}$ ?
1 reply
Dattier
Yesterday at 7:17 PM
lbh_qys
4 hours ago
IGO 2021 P1
SPHS1234   14
N 5 hours ago by LeYohan
Source: igo 2021 intermediate p1
Let $ABC$ be a triangle with $AB = AC$. Let $H$ be the orthocenter of $ABC$. Point
$E$ is the midpoint of $AC$ and point $D$ lies on the side $BC$ such that $3CD = BC$. Prove that
$BE \perp HD$.

Proposed by Tran Quang Hung - Vietnam
14 replies
SPHS1234
Dec 30, 2021
LeYohan
5 hours ago
Nationalist Combo
blacksheep2003   16
N 5 hours ago by Martin2001
Source: USEMO 2019 Problem 5
Let $\mathcal{P}$ be a regular polygon, and let $\mathcal{V}$ be its set of vertices. Each point in $\mathcal{V}$ is colored red, white, or blue. A subset of $\mathcal{V}$ is patriotic if it contains an equal number of points of each color, and a side of $\mathcal{P}$ is dazzling if its endpoints are of different colors.

Suppose that $\mathcal{V}$ is patriotic and the number of dazzling edges of $\mathcal{P}$ is even. Prove that there exists a line, not passing through any point in $\mathcal{V}$, dividing $\mathcal{V}$ into two nonempty patriotic subsets.

Ankan Bhattacharya
16 replies
blacksheep2003
May 24, 2020
Martin2001
5 hours ago
subsets of {1,2,...,mn}
N.T.TUAN   10
N 5 hours ago by de-Kirschbaum
Source: USA TST 2005, Problem 1
Let $n$ be an integer greater than $1$. For a positive integer $m$, let $S_{m}= \{ 1,2,\ldots, mn\}$. Suppose that there exists a $2n$-element set $T$ such that
(a) each element of $T$ is an $m$-element subset of $S_{m}$;
(b) each pair of elements of $T$ shares at most one common element;
and
(c) each element of $S_{m}$ is contained in exactly two elements of $T$.

Determine the maximum possible value of $m$ in terms of $n$.
10 replies
N.T.TUAN
May 14, 2007
de-Kirschbaum
5 hours ago
Mmmmmm...Tasty!
whatshisbucket   34
N Feb 25, 2025 by cursed_tangent1434
Source: 2017 ELMO #4
An integer $n>2$ is called tasty if for every ordered pair of positive integers $(a,b)$ with $a+b=n,$ at least one of $\frac{a}{b}$ and $\frac{b}{a}$ is a terminating decimal. Do there exist infinitely many tasty integers?

Proposed by Vincent Huang
34 replies
whatshisbucket
Jun 26, 2017
cursed_tangent1434
Feb 25, 2025
Mmmmmm...Tasty!
G H J
G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
Source: 2017 ELMO #4
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
whatshisbucket
975 posts
#1 • 8 Y
Y by Davi-8191, naw.ngs, centslordm, megarnie, green_leaf, Adventure10, Mango247, Funcshun840
An integer $n>2$ is called tasty if for every ordered pair of positive integers $(a,b)$ with $a+b=n,$ at least one of $\frac{a}{b}$ and $\frac{b}{a}$ is a terminating decimal. Do there exist infinitely many tasty integers?

Proposed by Vincent Huang
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
kk108
2649 posts
#2 • 4 Y
Y by megarnie, centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
Well this is definitely tasty's tasty problem!
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by kk108, Jun 26, 2017, 7:25 AM
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
babu2001
402 posts
#3 • 14 Y
Y by shinichiman, kk108, Tugsuu, vjdjmathaddict, JasperL, tarzanjunior, Anar24, OlympiadIneqByBruteForce, centslordm, denistusk, skyguy88, qwedsazxc, Adventure10, Mango247
The answer is definitely a big $\text{NO} $. Call a number "bitter" if and only if it is not "tasty".

$\text{Claim :} $ If a number $n$ is "bitter", then so are all its multiples.

$\text{Proof :} $ Let $(a, b) $ such that $a+b=n$ be a tuple which destroys the "tasty" nature of $n$. Then $(ka, kb) $ trivially destroys the "tasty" nature of any multiple $nk$. So the claim is proven. $\square$

For any primes $p\geq 5$, observe that $(p-3,3)$ or $(p-6,6)$ destroys the "tasty" nature of most primes $p$. If they do not, then $p-3$ is power of $2 $ and $p-6$ is a power of $5$. Then $(p-9,9)$ requires that $(p-9)$ is a power of $2 $. So we have powers of two with difference $6$, they are $(p-3),(p-9)$ which is not possible for primes $>11$. So the claim proves that any number divisible by a prime $>11$ is "bitter". For primes $2, 3, 5,7,11$ observe that $(3,13)$ destroys "tasty" nature of $2^4$, $(13,14)$ destroys the "tasty" nature of $3^3$, $(13,12)$ destroys the "tasty" nature of $5^2$, $(26,23)$ destroys the "tasty" nature of $7^2$ and $(60,61)$ destroys the "tasty" nature of $11^2$ so the claim shows that any tasty number is a divisor of $2^3\cdot 3^2\cdot 5\cdot 7\cdot 11=9240$ hence there are finitely many "tasty" numbers.

Note : Since we know that all "tasty" numbers divide $9240$ we can actually obtain all of them. They are $\{3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,15,21\}$.

EDIT : Yikes!! I thought only one of $\frac{a} {b}$ and $\frac{b} {a} $ has to be non-terminating. Sorry, this does not change the solution much though. Made relevant changes.
This post has been edited 8 times. Last edited by babu2001, Jun 26, 2017, 11:44 AM
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
SAUDITYA
250 posts
#4 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
No ,
We will show that there is no tasty number $n > 2^{2017}$.
See that a rational number written in lowest form has terminating decimal expansion if and only if its denominator is of form $2^a5^b$.
Now,
Assume that $\exists n > 2^{2017}$ such that $n$ is tasty!
See that "$\frac{a}{b}$ or $\frac{b}{a}$" is terminating if and only if "$\frac{n}{a}$ or $\frac{n}{b}$" is terminating(Here we have $a+b =n$!)
Now,
By Bertrand's Postulate there exists primes $p,q$ in between $\frac{n}{8} \ge p , q \ge \frac{n}{64}$
See that $n >> 64\sqrt{n} => \frac{n}{8} > p,q > \sqrt{n} > 5$.See that $pq >n => pq\nmid n$. So WLOG $=> p \nmid n$ and $n-4p > 4p $
Consider the pairs $(n-p,p) , (n-2p,2p), (n-3p,3p)$ and $(n-4p,4p)$
See that $\frac{n}{pk} \forall k  = (1,2,3,4)$ is never terminating because $p >5$ will always divide the denominator even when written in lowest form
Now,
See that $\frac{n}{n-kp} \forall k = (1,2,3,4)$ has to be terminating or else $n$ will be
Case 1. $n$ is even
See that $2 | n-2p => 2 \nmid n-p$ and $n-3p$ or else $2|p$ ,contradiction!
Now,
$n-p > 7p >35$ and $gcd(n,n-p) =1 => n-p = 5^a > 5 => a >0$
$n-3p >5p > 25 $ and $gcd(n,n-3p) = 1$ or $3=> n-3p = 5^c$ or $3.5^c > 15 => c>0$
$=> 5|n-p$ and $5|n-3p => 5|2p$,contradiction!

Case 2. $n$ is odd
see that $2| n-3p => 2 \nmid n-2p$ and $n-4p$ or else $2|p$ ,contradiction!
Now,
$n-2p > 6p >30$ and $gcd(n,n-2p) = 1 => 5|n-2p$
$n-4p > 4p >20$ and $gcd(n,n-4p) = 1 => 5|n-4p$
So $5|2p$, contradiction!

Hence $n$ is not tasty! , contradiction
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
rmtf1111
698 posts
#5 • 4 Y
Y by kk108, centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
I like to overkill-PNT, Mihailescu, LTE, Case-bashing aaand also not-so-well written
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by rmtf1111, Jun 26, 2017, 7:50 AM
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
TheDarkPrince
3042 posts
#6 • 7 Y
Y by RMO17geek, Maths_Guy, centslordm, denistusk, Adventure10, Mogmog8, Mango247
We say $k$ is yummy if $k$ is of the form $2^i5^j$ for $i,j \in \mathbb{N}_{0}$.
We know that a fraction is terminating if and only if the denominator is yummy.
Let $S = \{1,2,..,n-1\}$
$n = a+b$, so $b = n-a$, where $a \in S$.
So a number $n$ is tasty if for every $a$, atleast one of $a$ and $n-a$ is yummy $a \in S$.

So for a number $n$ to be tasty we need atleast $\lceil\left(\frac{n-1}{2}\right)\rceil$ of the elements of $S$ is of yummy.(This condition is just a minimal condition not a strong one)

We know that the number of numbers in $S$ of the form $2^k$ and of the form $5^m$ are $[\log_2 n]$ and $[\log_5 n]$ respectively, where $[x]$ is the greatest integer less than $x$.

So $n$ is tasty if atleast, $$\lceil\frac{n-1}{2}\rceil \leq \text{The number of numbers in $S$ that are yummy} \leq ([\log_2 n] + 1)([\log_5 n] + 1) \leq (\log_2 n +1)(\log_5 n +1)$$Let $n = 2^k$ for $k \in \mathbb{R}^{+}$.
As $5>2^2$, $\frac{k}{2}=\frac{\log_2 n}{2}>\log_5 n $.

So, $ (\log_2 n +1)(\log_5 n +1) \leq (k+1)(k/2 + 1) = \frac{(k+1)(k+2)}{2}$
For $k\geq 6$, $\frac{(k+1)(k+2)}{2} \leq \frac{(2^k - 1)}{2} = \frac{n - 1}{2}$.

But we had $\frac{n-1}{2} \leq (\log_2 n +1)(\log_5 n +1)$.

So none of the numbers greater than $64$ are tasty.
So we have that there doesn't exist infinite tasty numbers.
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
shinichiman
3212 posts
#7 • 5 Y
Y by Tawan, Anar24, centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
We prove that there doesn't exist infinitely many tasty numbers. Assume the contrary, consider sufficient large tasty number $n$. Let $p_k$ be the smallest prime so that $p_k \nmid n$ and $p_k >5 \; (k \ge 3)$. Let $p_1<p_2< \ldots, p_{k-1}$ be all primes less than $p_k$ and $p_i \mid n$ for all $1 \le i \le k-1$. We have $n \ge p_1 \cdots p_{k-1} > 3^{k-2}(p_k+1)$ (since $2p_{k-1}>p_k$ according Bernard postulate and $p_i \ge 2$ for all $i \ge 2$).

Pick $a=p_k$ then $b=n-p_k$ so $\frac ba$ is not terminating decimal. Hence, $\frac ab$ must be or $b=n-p_k=2^x5^y$.
Pick $a=2p_k$ then similarly $b=n-2p_k=2^m5^l$. Pick $a=3p_k$ then similarly $b=n-3p_k=2^u5^v$.

If $x=0$ then $n$ is even and $y \ge 1$ so $n=p_k+5^y > 3^{k-2}(p_k+1)$. Thus, $5 \mid n-p_k$. Since $n$ is even then $u=0$ so $n=3p_k+5^v$ which follows $v \ge 1$. Thus, $5 \mid n-3p_k$. Hence, $5 \mid 2p_k$, a contradiction.

If $x \ge 1$ then $n$ is odd so $m=0$ so $l \ge 1$ to get $n=2p_k+5^l>3^{k-2}(p_k+1)$. Thus, $5 \mid n-2p_k$. Since $n$ is odd so $u \ge 1$. Since $5 \mid n-2p_k$ so $v=y=0$. Thus, $n=3p_k+2^u=2p_k+5^l=p_k+2^x$ which follows $p_k=5^l-2^u=2^{x-1}-2^{u-1}$. Thus, $u=1$ or $n=3p_k+2<3^{k-2}(p_k+1)$, a contradiction.

Thus, there doesn't exist infinitely many tasty number $n$.
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
whatshisbucket
975 posts
#8 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
For those wondering, the complete set of tasty numbers is $\{3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,15,21\}.$
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
Ankoganit
3070 posts
#9 • 4 Y
Y by kk108, shinichiman, centslordm, Adventure10
The answer is $\textsc{No}$. We will show that $n$ can't be tasty for sufficiently large values of $n$.

First, we'll prove a lemma:

Lemma: $\varphi(n)\ge \sqrt{\frac{n}{2}}$ for all $n>1$.
Proof: Note that the inequality $p^{a-1}(p-1)\ge \sqrt{p^a}$ holds for all prime $p\ge 3$ and for positive integers $a$. Indeed, For $a>1$, this is simply $p^{\frac{a}{2}-1}(p-1)\ge 1$, which is true, and for $a=1$, this is $p-1\ge p^{\frac12}$, which is again true. Also, this is true for $p=2$ and $a>1$, as seen from the above proof. So if $n$ is odd or divisible by $4$, the above inequality can be multiplied for all prime power divisors of $n$ to yield $\varphi(n)\ge \sqrt{n}$, which is stronger than the desired result. For $n=2m$ with $m$ odd, note that $\varphi(n)=\varphi(2)\varphi(m)\ge 1\cdot\sqrt{m}=\sqrt{\tfrac{n}{2}}$, as desired. $\square$

Consider some large $n$. Consider the $\tfrac{\varphi (n)}{2}$ pairs of integers $(i,n-i)$ for $1\le i<\tfrac{n}{2}$, with $(i,n)=1$. For any such pair $(i,n-i)$, we need that one of $\tfrac{i}{n-i}$ and $\tfrac{n-i}{i}$ is terminating. Note that $\tfrac{i}{n-i}=\tfrac{n}{n-i}-1$ and $\tfrac{n-i}{i}=\tfrac{n}{i}-1$, so this is same as saying one of $\tfrac{n}{i}$ and $\tfrac{n}{n-i}$ is terminating. Since both the denominators are relatively prime with $n$, this implies at least one of $i$ and $n-i$ is a number of the form $2^a5^b$ for non-negative integers $a,b$. So there are at least $\tfrac{\varphi(n)}{2}$ numbers of the form $2^a5^b$ not exceeding $n$. But $a$ can't exceed $\log_2n$ and $5$ can't exceed $\log_5n$, so the total number of such numbers less than or equal to $n$ can't be bigger than $(\log_2 n+1)(\log_5n+1)$, which is smaller than $\tfrac{1}{2}\sqrt{\tfrac{n}{2}}$ and hence smaller than $\tfrac12\varphi(n)$ for large enough $n$, because asymptotics. This proves our claim. $\blacksquare$
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
Ankoganit
3070 posts
#11 • 2 Y
Y by centslordm, Adventure10
TheDarkPrince wrote:
We know that a fraction is terminating if and only if the denominator is yummy.
That's not true. $\frac 36$ has a terminating decimal expansion but $6$ isn't yummy.
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
kk108
2649 posts
#12 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
Yeah I was about to say that...
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
vjdjmathaddict
502 posts
#13 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
perhaps the easiest problem on the test.
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
TheDarkPrince
3042 posts
#14 • 4 Y
Y by Maths_Guy, centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
Ankoganit wrote:
TheDarkPrince wrote:
We know that a fraction is terminating if and only if the denominator is yummy.
That's not true. $\frac 36$ has a terminating decimal expansion but $6$ isn't yummy.

Yup I agree, I made a mistake. :(
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
MSTang
6012 posts
#15 • 4 Y
Y by Wave-Particle, centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
We prove that all sufficiently large $n$ are not tasty.

Suppose $n > 2$ is tasty. Choose some integer $a \in \{1, 2, \ldots, n-1\}$ with $\gcd(a, n) = 1$; there are $\phi(n)$ such $a$. Defining $b = n-a$, note that $\gcd(b, n) = 1$, and either $\tfrac{a}{b} = \tfrac{n}{b} - 1$ or $\tfrac{b}{a} = \tfrac{n}{a} - 1$ terminates. Thus either $\tfrac{n}{a}$ or $\tfrac{n}{b}$ terminates. Since $\gcd(a, n) = \gcd(b, n) = 1$, either $a$ or $b$ is of the form $2^e5^f$ for some integers $e, f \ge 0$. Thus there are at least $\tfrac12\phi(n)$ integers in the interval $\{1, 2, \ldots, n-1\}$ of the form $2^e5^f$ for some $e,f \ge 0$. Note that \[2^e5^f \le n \implies 2^{e+f} \le n \implies e+f\le \log_2(n).\]Hence there are at most $\tfrac12 (\log_2(n) + 1)(\log_2(n) + 2)$ such pairs $(e,f)$. Thus we need \[\tfrac12 \phi(n) \le \tfrac12 (\log_2(n) + 1)(\log_2(n) + 2).\]But recall that \[\sum_{d \mid n} \phi(d) = n,\]and furthermore we have the fact $d \mid n \implies \phi(d) \mid \phi(n)$. Thus $\sum_{d \mid n} \phi(d) \le \sum_{d \mid n} \phi(n) = \tau(n)\phi(n)$, so $\phi(n) \ge \frac{n}{\tau(n)}$. Furthermore, $\tau(n) \le 2\sqrt{n}$ since divisors of $n$ come in pairs, one greater than $\sqrt{n}$ and one less than $\sqrt{n}$. Thus $\phi(n) \ge \tfrac12 \sqrt{n}$, so \[\sqrt{n} \le 2(\log_2(n)+1)(\log_2(n)+2)\]which fails for sufficiently large $n$. $\square$
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
smy2012
688 posts
#16 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
My solution involves finding a class of "untasty" numbers.
That is for prime $p$,$p^l$ is not tasty if $p^{l-1}(p-1)>2\log_2 p\cdot \log_5 p $
Thus, exists a $N$ s.t. for any prime power $p^s>N$, $p^s$ is untasty. We can only have finitely many possible tasty number.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by smy2012, Jun 29, 2017, 8:43 AM
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
atmchallenge
980 posts
#17 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
Problem 4

Could someone look over my solution and let me know where I went wrong? I personally can't seem to find the error :( .
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
tree3
641 posts
#18 • 9 Y
Y by Ankoganit, JustAnAverageAopser, vjdjmathaddict, atmchallenge, SD2014, Wizard_32, centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
I think this is new.
Problem 4
This post has been edited 7 times. Last edited by tree3, Jul 3, 2017, 10:39 PM
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
Superguy
354 posts
#20 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, Adventure10, Mango247
So here is my lengthy solution.
Solution
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Superguy, May 29, 2018, 4:31 AM
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
aadhitya
98 posts
#21 • 2 Y
Y by centslordm, Adventure10
Not sure if my solution is correct.....

Let $n$ be a tasty number.
Let $d$ be a natural number less than $n$ and relatively prime to $n$. Also $d$ is not of the form $2^x.5^y$.

Notice that $\frac{n-d}{d}$ can't have a terminating decimal representation because $n-d$ and $d$ are co prime and d contains some prime factors other than $2$ and $5$.
So $\frac{p}{n-p}$ has a terminating decimal representation. This would imply that $n - p$ is of the form $2^x.5^y$.

So $\phi(n)$ $-X$ $\leq X$ where $X$ denotes the number of numbers less than $n$ that are of the form $2^x.5^y$.
$\implies \phi(n) \leq 2X$.

One can easily show that $X < (\log_2(n) +1) . (\log_5(n)+1)$ and $\phi(n) \geq \frac{\sqrt{n}}{\sqrt{2}}$.

So, we have $ \frac{\sqrt{n}}{\sqrt{2}} \leq (\log_2(n) +1) . (\log_5(n)+1)$. But clearly this is not true for large $n$ since square root function grows more rapidly than logarithmic function.

Therefore, the answer is NO
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by aadhitya, Feb 21, 2019, 6:58 AM
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
NMN12
26 posts
#23 • 2 Y
Y by centslordm, Adventure10
Answer: No all numbers greater than 21 are not tasty.
Claim: If a number $m$ is not tasty then all $km$ for k natural are not tasty.
Proof: Consider the pair $(a,b)$ for which $m$ is not tasty then $(ka,kb)$ shows that $km$ is not tasty.
Claim: All numbers $n$ greater than 21 are not tasty.
Proof: 11 and 13 are not tasty. Then $n$ is not multiple of 11 nor 13. Consider the pairs $(11,n-11)$ and $(13,n-13)$ either one of them shows that $n$ is not tasty. Because if not both $n-11$ and $n-13$ will be of the form $2^x5^y$ and we will have an exponential equation, which can be solved by using mod 8 and mod 5
This post has been edited 4 times. Last edited by NMN12, Feb 11, 2020, 2:23 PM
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
green_leaf
225 posts
#24 • 4 Y
Y by lilavati_2005, Polynom_Efendi, char2539, centslordm
First note that $2,3,5,7$ are tasty.
Let $p>7$ be a prime. We will prove that if $p$ is tasty, then $p=11$.
See that at least one of $\frac{p-3}{3}$ or $\frac{3}{p-3}$ has a terminating decimal expansion. $\frac{p-3}{3}$ is irreducible and also the denominator is not of the form $2^i5^j$ so the $\frac{3}{p-3}$ must be terminating. So $p-3=2^a5^b$.
Similarly, taking $(6, p-6)$ gives $p-6=2^c5^d$.
Finally, $p-7=2^e5^f$. So, $2^e5^f+4=2^a5^b$. So clearly, $f=b=0$ and $e=2, a=3$.
Hence, $p=8+3=11$. We can verify that $11$ is indeed tasty.

So, all tasty primes are in the set $S= \{2, 3, 5, 7, 11 \}$.
Now, suppose that some $n$ is not tasty.
So, there exists $a,b$ with $a+b=n$ and $\frac{a}{b}$ and $\frac{b}{a}$ are both irreducible.
Now, consider $kn$ for any natural $k$.
Clearly, if we choose $(ka, kb)$, we get $\frac{ka}{kb}=\frac{a}{b}, \frac{kb}{ka} = \frac{b}{a}$ which are clearly both irreducible by choice of $a,b,n$.

Hence any multiple of non-tasty integer is also non-tasty.
From this, it is clear that all tasty integers have only prime divisors in $S$.
Let a tasty integer $n=2^a3^b5^c7^d11^e$ where $n$ is sufficiently large.
Now consider $(13, n-13)$, we get $\frac{n-13}{13}$ is clearly irreducible and also non terminating.
Hence, for $n$ to be tasty, $\frac{13}{n-13}$ must be terminating.
So, $n-13=2^a3^b5^c7^d11^e-13=2^r5^s$.
Similarly, for $17$ we have $n-17=2^a3^b5^c7^d11^e-17=2^t5^u$. So $2^r5^s-4=2^t5^u$. Hence we can only have $r=3, s=0, t=2, u=0$.
So, $n-13=2^3=8 \implies n=21$ is the max value of $n$.
So, there are only finitely many values of $n$ and we are done.
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
ducktility
20 posts
#25 • 1 Y
Y by centslordm
whatshisbucket wrote:
An integer $n>2$ is called tasty if for every ordered pair of positive integers $(a,b)$ with $a+b=n,$ at least one of $\frac{a}{b}$ and $\frac{b}{a}$ is a terminating decimal. Do there exist infinitely many tasty integers?

Proposed by Vincent Huang

Nice problem.

We consider the $\phi (n)$ numbers which are co-prime to $n$. Suppose $(a, b)$ are a pair of such numbers such that $a+b = n$. Then, either of the two can be expressed as $2^\alpha 5^\beta$. In total, there are at most $log _2(n)log _5 (n) + log _2(n) + log _5 (n) + 1$ such numbers. So, $(log_2(n) +1)(log_5(n)+1) \geq \frac{1}{2}\phi (n)$. Now, we use $\frac{1}{2}\phi (n) \geq \frac{1}{4}\sqrt{n}$ and get $ 4(log_2(n) +1)(log_5(n)+1) \geq \sqrt{n}$ which is not true for $n \geq 10^8$ (Not the best bound but it works and I know really really really huge bound but it does our job). Hence, the number of such tasty numbers is finite.
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by ducktility, Jul 13, 2020, 5:14 PM
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
hakN
429 posts
#26 • 1 Y
Y by centslordm
Lets call the pairs $(a,b) , a + b = n$, with $a<b$ and $\gcd{(a,b)} = 1$ lucky. In a lucky pair $(a,b)$, we must have at least one of $a,b$ of the form $2^{x}\cdot 5^{y} , x,y \geq 0$. Now consider big enough $n$.
It is clear that there are $\frac{\varphi(n)}{2}$ lucky pairs. Also since $a,b < n$ and at least one of them must be of the form $2^x \cdot 5^y$, there are at most $(\log_2n + 1)(\log_5n + 1)$ such pairs.
So we must have $\frac{\varphi(n)}{2} \leq (\log_2n + 1)(\log_5n + 1) < (\log_2n + 1)^2$.
Now, using the inequality when $n\geq 7$, $\varphi(n) \geq \sqrt{n}$, we must have
$\frac{\sqrt{n}}{2} < (\log_2n + 1)^2$.
But that is clearly false for large enough $n$, and so there are finitely many $n$ satisfying the condition.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by hakN, Jun 4, 2021, 5:34 PM
Reason: fixed typo
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
mathlogician
1051 posts
#27
Y by
The answer is no. Define a number that can be expressed in the form $2^m5^n$ for positive integers $(m,n)$ as rare. Remark that if $n$ is tasty, then for each pair of relatively positive integers $(a,b)$ such that $a+b=n$, at least one of $a$ or $b$ must be rare. This implies that we must have at least $\tfrac{\varphi(n)}{2}$ rare numbers less than $n$. On the other hand, the number of rare integers less than $n$ is at most $(\log_2(n)+1)(\log_5(n)+1),$ so if $n$ is tasty, it must follow that $$(\log_2(n)+1)(\log_5(n)+1) \geq \frac{\varphi(n)}{2}.$$I claim that this inequality is false for all sufficiently large $n$. It fact, since logarithmic functions grow much slower than the square root function, it suffices to prove the following well-known claim:

Claim: $\varphi(n) \geq \tfrac{1}{2} \sqrt{n}$

Proof: We will prove this by strong induction. First, note that if $n$ is a power of $2$, $\varphi(n) = \tfrac{1}{2}n \geq  \tfrac{1}{2} \sqrt{n}.$ Otherwise, let $p$ be the greatest (odd) prime divisor of $n$, and write $n = p^ek$ for some positive integers $e$ and $k$. Then note that $$\varphi(n) = \varphi(p^e)\varphi(k) \geq \frac{\varphi(p^e) \sqrt{k}}{2} = \frac{p^{e-1}(p-1) \sqrt{k}}{2} \geq \frac{\sqrt{pk}}{2} = \frac{1}{2} \sqrt{n},$$as desired.
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
CT17
1481 posts
#28
Y by
We claim the answer is no.

First, if $n = ab$ where $a$ is not tasty, then there is some pair $c+d=a$ such that neither $\frac{c}{d}$ nor $\frac{d}{c}$ is a terminating decimal. Writing $n = bc + bd$ implies $n$ is not tasty, so a number is not tasty if any of its divisors is not tasty.

For any prime $p > 13$, at least one of the pairs $(p-11,11)$, $(p-12,12)$, and $(p-13,13)$ implies that $p$ is not tasty.

$(6,7)$ implies that $13$ is not tasty.

$(3,118)$ implies that $121$ is not tasty.

$(3,46)$ implies that $49$ is not tasty.

$(3,22)$ implies that $25$ is not tasty.

$(13,14)$ implies that $27$ is not tasty.

$(3,13)$ implies that $16$ is not tasty.

Since only finitely many positive integers are multiples of none of the above numbers, we are done.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by CT17, Nov 22, 2021, 10:00 PM
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
megarnie
5608 posts
#29
Y by
We claim the answer is $\boxed{\text{no}}$.


Call an integer that isn't tasty disgusting.

Claim: If an integer $n$ is disgusting, then all multiples of $n$ are disgusting.
Proof: Suppose $a+b=n$ and $\frac{a}{b}$ and $\frac{b}{a}$ are repeating decimals. Obviously $\frac{ka}{kb}=\frac{a}{b}$ and $\frac{kb}{ka}=\frac{b}{a}$ are repeating for any positive integer $k$, which proves our claim.

Claim: All primes $p\ge 13$ are disgusting.
Proof: Let $P(a,b)$ denote the given assertion.

If $p\equiv 1\pmod 3$, then $P(p-7,7)$ works since $3|p-7$ and $7\nmid p-7$.

If $p\equiv 2\pmod3$, then $P(p-11,11)$ works since $3|p-11$ and $11\nmid p-11$.




Now we will find powers of $2,3,5,7,11$ which are disgusting.


$P(7,9)\implies 16$ is disgusting.

$P(13,14)\implies 27$ is disgusting.

$P(12,13)\implies 25$ is disgusting.

$P(12,37)\implies 49$ is disgusting.

$P(13,108)\implies 121$ is disgusting.


Thus, a tasty number must be a divisor of $2^3\cdot 3^2\cdot 5\cdot 7\cdot 11$, which solves the problem.


Next, we find all tasty integers.

If $n$ is the power of some prime, we get $n=\boxed{\{4,8,3,9,5,7,11\}}$ all work.


Now suppose two primes $p$ and $q$, with $p<q$ divide $n$.

Case 1: $p=2$.
Then by $P(3,7)$, we find $10$ is disgusting, so $q\ne5$.

By $P(3,11)$, $14$ is disgusting, so $q\ne7$.

By $P(9,13)$, $22$ is disgusting, so $q\ne11$.

Thus, $q=3$.

$P(7,11)\implies 18$ is disgusting.

So $\nu_3(n)=1$.

$P(11,13)\implies 24$ is disgusting.

Thus, our solutions here are $\boxed{\{6,12\}}$, which both work.



Case 2: $p=3$.
Then $P(13,20)\implies 33$ is disgusting.

Thus, $q\in\{5,7\}$.

$P(11,34)\implies 3^2\cdot 5$ is disgusting.

$P(11,52)\implies 3^2\cdot 7$ is disgusting.

So $\nu_3(n)=1$, which gives $\boxed{\{15,21\}}$, which both work.


Case 3: $p>3$.
$P(13,22)\implies 5\cdot 7$ is disgusting.

$P(13,42)\implies 5\cdot 11$ is disgusting.

$P(19,58)\implies 7\cdot 11$ is disgusting.

So there are no solutions for this case.



Thus, our solution set in increasing order is $\{3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,15,21\}$.
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
guptaamitu1
656 posts
#30
Y by
The answer is NO. We will show all sufficiently large $n$ are not tasty. We look at the ordered pairs when $\gcd(a,b) = 1$. This equals $\phi(n)$. Let $M$ satisfy $2^M \le n < 2^{M+1}$. Observe $n$ has at most $M$ distinct prime divisors. If we denote by $p_i$ the $i$-th prime, then
$$\phi(n) \ge n \cdot  \prod_{i=1}^M \left(1 - \frac{1}{p_i} \right) \ge n \cdot \prod_{i=1}^M \left( 1 - \frac{1}{i+1} \right) = n \cdot \frac{1}{M+1} = \frac{n}{M+1} \ge \frac{2^M}{M+1}$$Call a number \emph{good} if $2,5$ are its only prime divisors. Now note when $\gcd(a,b) = 1$, then for $n$ to be tasty $a,b$ must be good. Observe any numbers $\le n$ has $v_2,v_5 < M+1$. Hence number of good numbers $\le n$ is at most $(M+1)^2$. So number of ordered pairs $(a,b)$ with $\gcd(a,b) = 1$ is at most $(M+1)^4$. This forces the inequality
$$\frac{2^M}{M+1} \le (M+1)^4$$Since this cannot hold for large $M$, so all large enough $n$ are not tasty, as desired. $\blacksquare$
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
BarisKoyuncu
577 posts
#31 • 1 Y
Y by SerdarBozdag
Here is a different solution.

First of all, see that if a number is not tasty, then so are all its multiples.

Now, check that $13,17,19$ is not tasty since $13=6+7, 17=6+11, 19=6+13$.

Choose an integer $n>22$. If $n$ is divisible by any of $13,17,19$; then we are done. Assume that $(n,13\cdot 17\cdot 19)=1$.

Now consider the pairs $(13,n-13), (17,n-17)$ and $(19,n-19)$. Since these pairs are relatively prime, all the numbers $n-13, n-17, n-19$ should be in the form $2^x\cdot 5^y$.
See that at most one of them is divisible by $5$. Hence at least two of them is a power of $2$. But, observe that this implies $n=22$. We assumed $n\ge 23$, contradiction. Hence, none of the numbers greater than $22$ is tasty.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by BarisKoyuncu, Apr 12, 2022, 5:29 AM
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
ricegang67
26 posts
#32
Y by
The answer is no.

Claim. If $n$ is tasty, then any factor of $n$ is also tasty.

Proof. Let $d > 2$ be a factor of some tasty $n$. Then, for all choices of $a$ and $b$ such that
\[\frac{n}{d}a + \frac{n}{d}b = n,\]we must have $a + b = d$ and $\frac{na/d}{nb/d} = \frac{a}{b}$ is terminating. Thus for all $(a, b)$ with $a + b = d$, $\frac{a}{b}$ terminates as required. $\square$

Now, it suffices to show that there are only finitely many tasty prime powers. First, we will show that any $p^k$ with $p \ge 13$ is not tasty. This is simple: consider the pairs $(6, p - 6)$ and $(12, p - 12)$. Clearly $\gcd(6, p - 6) = \gcd(12, p - 12) = 1$, so if $p$ is tasty, then $p - 6$ and $p - 12$ must both be of the form $2^x 5^y$. However, $p - 6$ and $p - 12$ are odd, so they are powers of 5, but there are no powers of 5 that differ by 6, so this is impossible.

We therefore only need to show that there are finitely many powers of 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11 which are tasty. Applying identical logic to above on the pairs $(17, p^{k} - 17)$ and $(19, p^{k} - 19)$ shows that this is the case.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by ricegang67, Feb 21, 2023, 9:56 PM
Reason: make sol more concise
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
peppapig_
281 posts
#33 • 1 Y
Y by mulberrykid
We claim that all integers greater than $1323$ cannot be tasty. We can take this in cases.

Case 1: $\nu_3{(n)}>2$
$27$ itself is not tasty, so for any multiple of $27$, $27k$ is also not tasty because $\frac{13k}{14k}=\frac{13}{14}$, of which neither itself nor its reciprocal are terminating decimals.

Case 2: $\nu_7{(n)}>1$
Similarly, $49$ is not tasty ($49=3+46$), therefore no multiple of $49$ is tasty.

Case 3: $\nu_3{(n)}=0$, $\nu_7{(n)}=0$
Since all numbers greater than $21$ relatively prime to both $3$ and $7$, $n$ can be expressed as $3x+7y$ for some $x$ and $y$, $n$ cannot be tasty. This is because when simplified, one side will be a multiple of $7$ and the other will be a multiple of $3$. Therefore no numbers in this case greater than $1323$ are tasty.

Case 4: $\nu_3{(n)}=1$, $\nu_7{(n)}=0$
Similarly, every $n>63$ in this case can be expressed as $9x+21y$ for some $x$, $y$, making $n$ not tasty.

Case 5: $\nu_3{(n)}=2$, $\nu_7{(n)}=0$
Similarly, every $n>189$ in this case can be expressed as $27x+63y$ for some $x$, $y$, making $n$ not tasty.

Case 6: $\nu_3{(n)}=0$, $\nu_7{(n)}=1$
Similarly, every $n>147$ in this case can be expressed as $3x+49y$ for some $x$, $y$, making $n$ not tasty.

Case 7: $\nu_3{(n)}=1$, $\nu_7{(n)}=1$
Similarly, every $n>441$ in this case can be expressed as $9x+147y$ for some $x$, $y$, making $n$ not tasty.

Case 8: $\nu_3{(n)}=2$, $\nu_7{(n)}=1$
Similarly, every $n>1323$ in this case can be expressed as $27x+441y$ for some $x$, $y$, making $n$ not tasty.

Therefore no $n>1323$ can be tasty, proving that there are not infinitely many tasty integers, and we are done.
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by peppapig_, Mar 16, 2023, 2:23 PM
Reason: grrrr
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
blackbluecar
303 posts
#34
Y by
There are finitely many tasty numbers. Note that $a/b$ is terminating if and only if $b$ is not divisible by any primes other than $2$ and $5$ given that $\gcd(a,b)=1$. We call a positive integer not divisible by any primes other than $2$ and $5$ stringy

Claim: If $F(n)$ denotes the number of stringy positive integers not exceeding $n$ then $\varphi(n) > 10^{100} \cdot F(n)$ for all sufficiently large $n$.

Indeed, note that for all large $n$ we have \[ \varphi(n) > \sqrt{\frac{n}{2}} > 10^{100} \cdot \log_2(n) \cdot \log_5(n) > 10^{100} \cdot F(n)\]as desired. $\square$

Note that $\varphi(n)/2$ denotes the number of ways to pick $a$ and $b$ so that $a+b=n$ and $\gcd(a,b)=1$. Since $\varphi(n)/2$ exceeds $F(n)$ for all large $n$, we may choose $\gcd(a,b)=1$ obeying $a+b=n$ and $b$ not only having prime divisors $2$ and $5$. $\blacksquare$
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
HamstPan38825
8866 posts
#35 • 1 Y
Y by MihaiT
The answer is no; there are finitely many. Take $n$ sufficiently large and consider pairs $(a, b)$ with $a+b=n$ where $\gcd(a, n) = 1$.

Note that for $a/b$ or $b/a$ to be terminating among these pairs, one of $a, b$ must be of the form $2^k \cdot 5^\ell$. Since each such value for $a$ corresponds to a unique pair, the number $P$ of pairs must be loosely bounded above by $\log_2 n \cdot \log_5 n$. On the other hand, we have $$\sqrt n < \phi(n) = P < \log_2 n \cdot \log_5 n$$which is an obvious contradiction for $n$ large.

(It is well-known that $\phi(n) > \sqrt n$ for $n \neq 2, 6$; this can quickly be checked by multiplicativity of $\phi$.)
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
N3bula
276 posts
#36
Y by
Note that if $m$ is not tasty any multiple of $m$ is not tasty. If a prime $p>21$ we get that there is a multiple of $3$ such that $3n<p$ and $7\mid 3n-p$ which means that if a value is
tasty it can only be divisible by primes smaller than $21$, if a value is only divisible by primes smaller than $21$ call this value $n$ and has the property $n>23\dot 29$,
we get that there is a multiple of 23 such that $23m<n$ and $29\mid n-23m$ which suffices to prove there are only finitely many tasty values.
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
pie854
243 posts
#37
Y by
Let $n$ be sufficiently large and suppose that it is tasty. Let $a$ be such that $\gcd(a,n)=1$. Then, $\gcd(n-a,a)=1$. Since either $a/(n-a)$ or $(n-a)/a$ must be terminating, we must have that either $a$ or $n-a$ must be of the form $2^a 5^b$. Thus, the number of integers of the form $2^a 5^b$ less than $n$ must be greater than $\phi(n)/2$. But, this is obviously wrong for large enough $n$.
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
cursed_tangent1434
632 posts
#38
Y by
We claim that the answer is in fact no. It is well known that the fraction $\frac{a}{b}$ is a terminating decimal if and only if the denominator $b$ is of the form $b=2^k\cdot 5^l$ for non negative integers $k$ and $l$.

Now, consider sufficiently large $n$. We shall show that it is not tasty. Since $n=(n-3)+3$ we must have $n-3=2^u5^v$ and since $n=(n-7)+7$ we must have $n-7=2^x5^y$. Plugging in one expression for $n$ into the other we obtain the diophantine,
\[2^x5^y+4=2^u5^v\]We have two cases.

Case 1 : If $y>0$, then the left hand side is clearly $4 \pmod{5}$ which implies that $v=0$. The equation then rewrites to,
\[2^x5^y+4=2^u\]for sufficiently large $n$ we must have $u>3$ so,
\[2^{x-2}5^y +1=2^{u-2}\]But then clearly the left hand side is odd and the right hand side is even unless $x=2$. Then,
\[5^y+1=2^{u-2}\]which has no solutions by Mihailescu's Theorem.

Case 2 : If $y=0$ then,
\[2^x +4=2^u5^v\]once again for sufficiently large $n$ we are required to have $x>3$ so,
\[2^{x-2}+1=2^{u-2}5^v\]But if $u>2$ the right hand side is even while the left hand side is odd which is a clear contradiction. Thus, $u=2$ and we have,
\[2^{x-2}+1=5^{v}\]which once again has no solutions when $v>1$ by Mihailescu's Theorem. But for sufficiently large $n$ we must have $v>1$ so this case fails to generate infinite solutions as well.

Thus, it is clear that the number of tasty integers is in fact finite, as desired.
Z K Y
N Quick Reply
G
H
=
a