1996 AIME Problems/Problem 8

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Problem

The harmonic mean of two positive integers is the reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of their reciprocals. For how many ordered pairs of positive integers $(x,y)$ with $x<y$ is the harmonic mean of $x$ and $y$ equal to $6^{20}$?

Solution

The harmonic mean of $x$ and $y$ is equal to $\frac{1}{\frac{\frac{1}{x}+\frac{1}{y}}2} = \frac{2xy}{x+y}$, so we have $xy=(x+y)(3^{20}\cdot2^{19})$, and by SFFT, $(x-3^{20}\cdot2^{19})(y-3^{20}\cdot2^{19})=3^{40}\cdot2^{38}$. Now, $3^{40}\cdot2^{38}$ has $41\cdot39=1599$ factors, one of which is the square root ($3^{20}2^{19}$). Since $x<y$, the answer is half of the remaining number of factors, which is $\frac{1599-1}{2}= \boxed{799}$.

See also

1996 AIME (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 7
Followed by
Problem 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions

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