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jmc

algebra senior

Problem

Each of the numbers is Find the smallest possible positive value of
Solution
Let and denote the number of 1's and 's among the respectively. Then and Let Then Note that is odd, so is an odd perfect square. To minimize while still keeping it positive, we take as the smallest odd perfect square greater than 95, which is 121. Then

Equality occurs when and so the smallest possible positive value of is
Final answer
13