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jmc

algebra intermediate

Problem

Suppose and are integers such that . Find the greatest possible value of .
Solution
Note that equals . So, add to both sides of the original equation to get , so now we may apply Simon's Favorite Factoring Trick and write the equation as .

Then, the potential ordered pairs with are , , and , since these are the pairs of integers that multiply to 15. The greatest value for is thus . We solve for to yield .
Final answer
10