Browse · MATH
Printjmc
algebra intermediate
Problem
For , positive integers, let . Find .
Solution
We apply Simon's Favorite Factoring Trick to the left side. We first find a pair of binomials whose product produces the three terms on the left side: . So, we add to both sides of the original equation to get . Factoring then gives . If either or equal 1, then or would be negative. If equals 11, then would not be an integer. So, and . Solving for gives . Therefore, .
Final answer
6