Online Course Discussion Forum

MCIII Number Theory 1.13

 
 
Picture of Tina Jin
MCIII Number Theory 1.13
by Tina Jin - Tuesday, December 26, 2023, 11:41 AM
 

Hello,


Hello! I tried many methods for 1.13, but I can't figure out how to do it. I tried multiplying to get ab=b^2, bc=c^2, ac=a^2 and other similar manipulations with the equations. How do you solve this problem?


Thank you,

Tina Jin

 
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Re: MCIII Number Theory 1.13
by John Lensmire - Wednesday, December 27, 2023, 10:19 AM
 

This one is a little confusing because there is so much symmetry, so let's try to take advantage of that.

Note that the order of the solutions doesn't matter, so to start assume $a \leq b \leq c$. Then consider what the mod statements say:

  1. $a \equiv b \pmod{c}$ so $b-a$ is a multiple of $c$.
  2. $b\equiv c \pmod{a}$ so $c-b$ is a multiple of $a$.
  3. $c\equiv a \pmod{b}$ so $c-a$ is a multiple of $b$.

Note since we assumed $a \leq b \leq c$ we know all the differences ($b-a$, $c-b$, $c-a$) are non-negative. As a hint, think about 1. above. How can $b-a$ be a multiple of $c$ if both $b$ and $a$ are less than $c$? This should get you started.

Picture of Tina Jin
Re: MCIII Number Theory 1.13
by Tina Jin - Wednesday, December 27, 2023, 10:43 AM
 

Oh! Ok thank you!