(In reply to
Puzzle Answer by K Sengupta)
16p+1=y^3 (say), where y is a positive integer.
Then y^3 must be an odd number, and so:
y must be odd. .....(i)
Now, p=2 gives y^3=16*2+1=33, which is not a perfect cube. Contradiction.
Accordingly, p must be an odd prime. ..... (ii)
Now, 16p+1=y^3
=> 16p= y^3-1 = (y-1)(y^2+y+1)
From (i), we know that y-1 is an even number and, from (ii) we are au fait that p is odd. Since NO even number can divide an odd number, we must have:
y-1 divides 16, and so y-1 correspond to all the divisors of 16 with the inclusion of 1 and itself.
Accordingly, y= 2,3,5,9,17
Substituting the above mentioned values for y in the equation:
y^3=16p+1, we observe that:
None of the values 2,3,5,9 yields a valid value for p.
But for y=17, we have:
p=(17^3-1)/16 = 4912/16 = 307
Consequently, 307 is the only possible value for p.