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Printsmc
counting and probability senior
Problem
Call a fraction , not necessarily in the simplest form, special if and are positive integers whose sum is . How many distinct integers can be written as the sum of two, not necessarily different, special fractions?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Solution
The special fractions are We rewrite them in the simplest form: Note that two unlike fractions in the simplest form cannot sum to an integer. So, we only consider the fractions whose denominators appear more than once: For the set two elements (not necessarily different) can sum to For the set two elements (not necessarily different) can sum to For the set two elements (not necessarily different) can sum to Together, there are distinct integers that can be written as the sum of two, not necessarily different, special fractions:
Final answer
C