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jmc

number theory intermediate

Problem

Compute .
Solution
Notice that and differ by . Therefore, if they have a common divisor, then that divisor must also be a divisor of . (To see why this is true, suppose is a divisor of , so that for some integer ; also suppose that is a divisor of , so that for some integer . Then .)

Since is prime, the only (positive) divisors of are , , and itself. But cannot be a divisor of (which is clearly more than a multiple of ). Therefore, .
Final answer
1