Skip to main content
OlympiadHQ

Browse · MATH

Print

jmc

number theory senior

Problem

Given that and are positive integers such that and , what is the largest integer that is necessarily divisible by?
Solution
If , then we can write as for some integer . This is equal to , so is certainly divisible by . If , then is divisible by . Therefore, must be divisible by .

Note that can be 6 and can be 9, which gives us . Also, can be 15 and can be 9, which gives us . The gcd of 54 and 135 is 27.

Therefore, the largest integer that must be divisible by is .
Final answer
27