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Some Prime Fractions sum to Integer Fraction (Posted on 2023-06-29) Difficulty: 3 of 5
Each of p and q is a prime number that satisfy this equation:
 p     q+1     2n
--- + ----- = -----
p+1     q      n+2
where n is a positive integer.

Determine all possible value(s) of q-p.

See The Solution Submitted by K Sengupta    
Rating: 5.0000 (1 votes)

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Some Thoughts computer exploration | Comment 1 of 4
for pn=1:15 
  for qn=1:15 
    p=nthprime(pn); q=nthprime(qn);
    lhs=sym(p/(p+1)+(q+1)/q);
    [n,d]=numden(lhs);
    if ceil(lhs)==2 
      disp([p q n d])
      if d==n/2+2
           disp('**')
      end
    end
  end
end

The below lists for p and q that lead to a value whose ceiling is 2, 

p, q, numerator, denominator

where the numerator and denominator are those of the reduced fraction on the right hand side of the equation.

The program points out that p = 2, q = 7 results in a value of 38/21, so that n is 19. In this case q - p = 5.

However, if p=2 and q=5, the fraction 28/15 could be written 56/30 so n would be 28.  I don't know if unreduced fractions are allowed. In this case q-p would be 3.

Take the case p=3, q=5, leading to 39/20. If the fraction were written as 156/80, this would fit n=78, and q-p would be 2.

With p=5, q=7, resulting in 83/42 = 332/168, where n = 166. q-p=2.

These things seem to happen whenever q-p is 2. But we did have that best example when q-p was 5, and that was the only case where the fraction was in its reduced form.

[p, q, num, den]

[2, 3, 2, 1]
[2, 5, 28, 15]
[2, 7, 38, 21]
**
[2, 11, 58, 33]
[2, 13, 68, 39]
[2, 17, 88, 51]
[2, 19, 98, 57]
[2, 23, 118, 69]
[2, 29, 148, 87]
[2, 31, 158, 93]
[2, 37, 188, 111]
[2, 41, 208, 123]
[2, 43, 218, 129]
[2, 47, 238, 141]
[3, 5, 39, 20]
[3, 7, 53, 28]
[3, 11, 81, 44]
[3, 13, 95, 52]
[3, 17, 123, 68]
[3, 19, 137, 76]
[3, 23, 165, 92]
[3, 29, 207, 116]
[3, 31, 221, 124]
[3, 37, 263, 148]
[3, 41, 291, 164]
[3, 43, 305, 172]
[3, 47, 333, 188]
[5, 7, 83, 42]
[5, 11, 127, 66]
[5, 13, 149, 78]
[5, 17, 193, 102]
[5, 19, 215, 114]
[5, 23, 259, 138]
[5, 29, 325, 174]
[5, 31, 347, 186]
[5, 37, 413, 222]
[5, 41, 457, 246]
[5, 43, 479, 258]
[5, 47, 523, 282]
[7, 11, 173, 88]
[7, 13, 203, 104]
[7, 17, 263, 136]
[7, 19, 293, 152]
[7, 23, 353, 184]
[7, 29, 443, 232]
[7, 31, 473, 248]
[7, 37, 563, 296]
[7, 41, 623, 328]
[7, 43, 653, 344]
[7, 47, 713, 376]
[11, 13, 311, 156]
[11, 17, 403, 204]
[11, 19, 449, 228]
[11, 23, 541, 276]
[11, 29, 679, 348]
[11, 31, 725, 372]
[11, 37, 863, 444]
[11, 41, 955, 492]
[11, 43, 1001, 516]
[11, 47, 1093, 564]
[13, 17, 473, 238]
[13, 19, 527, 266]
[13, 23, 635, 322]
[13, 29, 797, 406]
[13, 31, 851, 434]
[13, 37, 1013, 518]
[13, 41, 1121, 574]
[13, 43, 1175, 602]
[13, 47, 1283, 658]
[17, 19, 683, 342]
[17, 23, 823, 414]
[17, 29, 1033, 522]
[17, 31, 1103, 558]
[17, 37, 1313, 666]
[17, 41, 1453, 738]
[17, 43, 1523, 774]
[17, 47, 1663, 846]
[19, 23, 917, 460]
[19, 29, 1151, 580]
[19, 31, 1229, 620]
[19, 37, 1463, 740]
[19, 41, 1619, 820]
[19, 43, 1697, 860]
[19, 47, 1853, 940]
[23, 29, 1387, 696]
[23, 31, 1481, 744]
[23, 37, 1763, 888]
[23, 41, 1951, 984]
[23, 43, 2045, 1032]
[23, 47, 2233, 1128]
[29, 31, 1859, 930]
[29, 37, 2213, 1110]
[29, 41, 2449, 1230]
[29, 43, 2567, 1290]
[29, 47, 2803, 1410]
[31, 37, 2363, 1184]
[31, 41, 2615, 1312]
[31, 43, 2741, 1376]
[31, 47, 2993, 1504]
[37, 41, 3113, 1558]
[37, 43, 3263, 1634]
[37, 47, 3563, 1786]
[41, 43, 3611, 1806]
[41, 47, 3943, 1974]
[43, 47, 4133, 2068]
>> 

  Posted by Charlie on 2023-06-29 09:41:25
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