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Gonna party like it's 1999 (Posted on 2004-09-12) Difficulty: 1 of 5
Find a solution to:
x1^4 + x2^4 + x3^4 + ... + xn^4 = 1999

where each xy is a distinct integer.

(Or prove that it is impossible).

See The Solution Submitted by SilverKnight    
Rating: 3.2500 (4 votes)

Comments: ( Back to comment list | You must be logged in to post comments.)
Solution Solution | Comment 1 of 8

Suppose a solution exists.  Note then that there are at least 7 odd integers among the {x_i}, as 1999 is 15 (mod 16) and as each perfect fourth power is 0 or 1 (mod 16) depending on whether it is even or odd, respectively.  But the largest of these 7 odd integers is at least as large as 7^4=2401>1999, a contradiction.

Thus no solution exists.


  Posted by David Shin on 2004-09-12 09:31:14
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