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Print59th Ukrainian National Mathematical Olympiad
Ukraine algebra
Problem
Find all real values of , such that all solutions of the equation are positive integers.
Solution
First, we go through cases when this equation is not quadratic. For , equation becomes , and has a non-integer solution. For , equation becomes , and has a single solution , which satisfies the statement.
Now, suppose . We find the discriminant of this quadratic equation: So the roots are: Calculating both roots: We must find all cases when this is a positive integer. Let be a positive integer, then .
Then: We require to be a positive integer. Since is a positive integer, and are coprime. Hence, the last condition is only possible for or .
Therefore, the real values of are , , and .
Now, suppose . We find the discriminant of this quadratic equation: So the roots are: Calculating both roots: We must find all cases when this is a positive integer. Let be a positive integer, then .
Then: We require to be a positive integer. Since is a positive integer, and are coprime. Hence, the last condition is only possible for or .
Therefore, the real values of are , , and .
Final answer
k = 1/2, 1, 2
Techniques
Quadratic functionsGreatest common divisors (gcd)