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Diophantine quickie II (Posted on 2011-09-09) Difficulty: 3 of 5
Each of a, b, c, d, e and f is a positive integer satisfying this system of equations:

a-2 + b-2 + c-2 + d-2= e-2, and:

1/a+ 1/b+ 1/c+ 1/d= f-2

Determine the smallest value of f. What are the next three smallest values of f?

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

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full solution | Comment 1 of 5

let a=b=c=d
then we have
1/a+1/b+1/c+1/d=4/a
thus we want
4/a=1/f^2
a=4f^2
and we also need
1/a^2+1/b^2+1/c^2+1/d^2=4/a^2=1/e^2
a^2=4e^2  since a,e>0
a=2e
e=a/2=(4f^2)/2=2f^2
thus for any postive f we can find a,b,c,d,e satifying the equations.
thus the smallest value of f is 1, and the next 3 are 2,3,4.


  Posted by Daniel on 2011-09-09 10:54:06
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