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Japanese Numbering (Posted on 2003-09-21) Difficulty: 5 of 5
Find the number n such that the following alphanumeric equation:
   KYOTO
   KYOTO
 + KYOTO
   TOKYO
has a solution in the base-n number system.

(Each letter in the equation denotes a digit in this system, and different letters denote different digits)

  Submitted by DJ    
Rating: 4.0769 (13 votes)
Solution: (Hide)
n=9.

Inspecting the first digit from the right in the given equation, we find that 2O is divisible by n.

So either O = 0 or O = n/2.

In the second case, from the third digit we derive K > n/2, but from the fifth digit we have that 3K ≤ T ≤ n-1, so K < n/3.

It follows that O = 0.

Now we have these equations:
3T = Kn + Y (from the second and third digits)
3Y = cn (where c is the number carried from the fourth to the fifth digit)
3K + c = T (the fifth digit)

Multiplying the first equation by 3 and substituting in the values for 3Y and 3K from the two other equations, we get:

3T = Kn + Y
9T = 3Kn + 3Y
9T = (T-c)n + cn
9T = Tn
n = 9

We must also make sure that there's at least one solution for this n.

In fact, there are four: KYOTO = 13040, 16050, 23070, or 26080.

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)
  Subject Author Date
Some ThoughtsGreat PuzzleK Sengupta2007-03-09 04:57:43
'The Interested Reader'Charley2005-05-14 06:18:48
re: solutionB2003-09-30 21:05:34
solutionB2003-09-30 21:02:09
OKGamer2003-09-23 22:09:29
Hints/TipsHintBry2003-09-23 20:53:39
Hints/TipsHINT! HINT! HINT!Bry2003-09-23 20:52:37
Help!b2003-09-23 16:52:29
o=0b2003-09-23 16:52:03
hardb2003-09-23 16:51:32
Solutiondesiree2003-09-22 22:37:40
re(3): solutionGamer2003-09-22 17:22:04
re(2): solutionChristian Perfect2003-09-22 12:31:03
SolutionFULL solution (part 2)John Reid2003-09-21 15:53:58
SolutionNo SubjectJohn Reid2003-09-21 15:11:12
re(2): Proof of solution continued againEradicator2003-09-21 14:39:12
re: Proof of solution continuedEradicator2003-09-21 14:36:15
SolutionWhole SolutionGamer2003-09-21 14:30:18
Proof of solutionEradicator2003-09-21 14:22:14
SolutionSolutionGamer2003-09-21 13:37:09
re: solutionTristan2003-09-21 11:39:53
solutionChristian Perfect2003-09-21 10:12:19
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