2020 AIME I Problems/Problem 12

Revision as of 23:05, 16 March 2020 by My-2 (talk | contribs) (Solution 2 (Simpler, just basic mods and Fermat's theorem))

Problem

Let $n$ be the least positive integer for which $149^n-2^n$ is divisible by $3^3\cdot5^5\cdot7^7.$ Find the number of positive integer divisors of $n.$

Solution 1

Lifting the Exponent shows that \[v_3(149^n-2^n) = v_3(n) + v_3(147) = v_3(n)+1\] so thus, $3^2$ divides $n$. It also shows that \[v_7(149^n-2^n) = v_7(n) + v_7(147) = v_7(n)+2\] so thus, $7^5$ divides $n$.


Now, multiplying $n$ by $4$, we see \[v_5(149^{4n}-2^{4n}) = v_5(149^{4n}-16^{n})\] and since $149^{4} \equiv 1 \pmod{25}$ and $16^1 \equiv 16 \pmod{25}$ then $v_5(149^{4n}-2^{4n})=1+v_5(n)$ meaning that we have that by LTE, $4 \cdot 5^4$ divides $n$.

Since $3^2$, $7^5$ and $4\cdot 5^4$ all divide $n$, the smallest value of $n$ working is their LCM, also $3^2 \cdot 7^5 \cdot 4 \cdot 5^4 = 2^2 \cdot 3^2 \cdot 5^4 \cdot 7^5$. Thus the number of divisors is $(2+1)(2+1)(4+1)(5+1) = \boxed{270}$.

~kevinmathz

Solution 2 (Simpler, just basic mods and Fermat's theorem)

BY THE WAY, please feel free to correct my formatting. I don't know latex.

Note that for all $n$, $149^n - 2^n$ is divisible by $149-2 = 147$ because that is a factor. That is $3\cdot7^2$, so now we can clearly see that the smallest $n$ to make the expression divisible by $3^3$ is just $3^2$. Similarly, we can reason that the smallest $n$ to make the expression divisible by $7^7$ is just $7^5$.

Finally, for $5^5$, take $(\text{mod} 5)$ and $(\text{mod} 25)$ of each quantity (They happen to both be $-1$ and $2$ respectively, so you only need to compute once). One knows from Fermat's theorem that the maximum possible minimum $n$ for divisibility by $5$ is $4$, and other values are factors of $4$. Testing all of them(just $1$,$2$,$4$ using mods-not too bad), $4$ is indeed the smallest value to make the expression divisible by $5$, and this clearly is NOT divisible by $25$. Therefore, the smallest $n$ to make this expression divisible by $5^5$ is $2^2 \cdot 5^4$.

Calculating the LCM of all these, one gets $2^2 \cdot 3^2 \cdot 5^4 \cdot 7^5$. Using the factor counting formula, the answer is $3\cdot3\cdot5\cdot6$ = $\boxed{270}$. Can someone please format better for me?

-Solution by thanosaops -formatted by MY-2

See Also

2020 AIME I (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 11
Followed by
Problem 13
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions

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