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jmc

number theory senior

Problem

Let be a positive integer, and suppose that is its own inverse , but is its own inverse .

How many possible values for are there?
Solution
If is its own inverse , then , or in other words, is a divisor of .

But if is its own inverse , then , so is not a divisor of .

Thus, we wish to count divisors of which are not divisors of . There are ten divisors of : Of these, six are not divisors of : Therefore, there are possible values of .
Final answer
6