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More Harmonic Integers (2) (Posted on 2007-03-28) Difficulty: 3 of 5
Consider three positive integers x< y< z in Harmonic Sequence.

Determine all possible values of the positive integer constant S for which the equation 15x + Sy = 15z admits of valid solutions.

  Submitted by K Sengupta    
Rating: 3.3333 (3 votes)
Solution: (Hide)
By conditions of the problem, we know that:
y = 15(z-x)/S
Since x< y< z are in Harmonic Sequence, it follows that:
y = 2zx/(z+x)

Accordingly,

15(z-x)/S = 2zx/(z+x)
Or, 15*z^2 - 2Szx - 15*x^2 = 0
Or, z = (2xS +/- 2x*sqrt(S^2+ 225))/30
Or, z/x = (S +/- R)/15; where R= sqrt (S^2 + 225)

If z/x = (S - R)/3, then R-S is negative as S < R, yielding negative z for positive x, which is a contradiction.

Consequently,
z/x = (S + R )/3....(i)
Since RHS of (i) is a rational number, therefore LHS must be rational.

Since S is a positive integer,it follows that LHS is rational only if S^2 + 225 is a perfect square.

Also, since R + S must be greater than R-S, it follows that R - S must correspond to a factor of 225 less than sqrt(225) = 15

Hence, (R+S, R-S) = (225,1); (75,3); (45,5); (25,9), giving:

(R, S) =(113, 112); (39, 36); (25, 20); (17, 8)

Consequently the only possible values of S are 112, 36, 20 and 8.

*******************************

VERIFICATION::

As a check, we observe that:

S=8 gives R = 17, so that
z = (8+17)/15 * x = (5/3)*x and y = 2xz/(x+z) = (5/4)* x
Or, x:y:z = 12:15:20, so that:
(x, y, z) = (12p, 15p, 20, where p is a positive integer.

Similarly, S = 20 gives R=15, and:
(x,y,z) = (2p, 3p, 6p)

S = 36 gives R =39, and:
(x,y,z) = (3p, 5p, 15p)

S = 112 gives R = 113 and:
(x,y,z) = (8p, 15p, 120p)

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)
  Subject Author Date
SolutionI think I got itBrian Smith2007-03-30 13:10:34
Some ThoughtsPartly solvedDej Mar2007-03-29 18:19:45
Some Thoughtsre: Partly solvedK Sengupta2007-03-29 11:51:48
Some ThoughtsPartly solvedJer2007-03-29 11:24:46
Hints/TipsHintK Sengupta2007-03-29 09:35:39
Some Thoughtsa few found by brute force....Dej Mar2007-03-28 22:44:20
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