Number Theory Worksheet 2 – Diophantine Equations

All SMC, BMO and Mentoring problems are © UKMT (www.ukmt.org.uk)

1. Using algebra, find all pairs of positive integers such the sum and product add up to 19.
4 2 1
2. [Source: UKMT Mentoring] Find all integer solutions to + + =1.
ab a b
2
3. [Source: SMC] For how many integer values of n does the equation x + nx − 16 = 0 have
integer solutions?
n−1
4. [Source: SMC] Find all the values of n for which both n and 4 n+1 are integers.
5. [Source: Frosty Special] For what real values of x is x 2−2 x−2 a perfect square? (i.e. a
square number)
6. [Source: BMO1] Each of Paul and Jenny has a whole number of pounds.
He says to her “If you give me £3, I will have n times as much as you”.
She says to him: “If you give me £n , I will have 3 times as much as you.
Give that all these statements are true and that n is a positive integer, what are the possible
values for n ?
7. [Source: Frosty Special] Find the first five triangular numbers that are perfect squares.
8. Prove that:
a. √ 4 n2+ 1 can never be an integer if n is an integer.
b. And hence √ x−√ x is never an integer when x is an integer.
(Tip: For equations involving surds, isolate the surd on one side of the equation
where possible then square both sides.)

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 Number Theory Worksheet 2 – Diophantine Equations - ANSWERS

1. Using algebra, find all pairs of positive integers such that their sum and product add up to 19.
Let our two numbers be a and b , and without loss of generality (w.l.o.g.) let a ≥ b .
Using the information, ab+ a+b=19.
Factorising, ( a+1 )( b+1 ) −1=19, so ( a+1 )( b+1 ) =20.
The possible factor pairs of 20 are 20 ×1, 10 ×2, 5 × 4 (we needn’t consider negative factors in this
particular case, because they’ll lead to negative a and b ). This leads to solutions (9,1) and ( 4,3) .

4 2 1
2. Find all integer solutions to + + =1.
ab a b
4 +2 b+a=abab−2 b−a=4( a−2 ) ( b−1 ) −2=4( a−2 ) ( b−1 ) =6Thus we try each of the
factor pairs of 6, i.e. -1 and -6, -2 and -3, etc. Thus yields pairs of solutions for a and b of
( 1 ,−5 ) , ( 0 ,−2 ) , (−1 ,−1 ) , (−4,0 ) , ( 3,7 ) , ( 4,4 ) , ( 5,3 ) ,(8 , 2) . But we discard any where a or b is
0 since we can’t divide by 0 in the original equation.

3. [Source: SMC] For how many integer values of n does the equation x 2+ nx−16=0 have integer
solutions?
(Official UKMT solution) For the equation to have integer solutions, it must be possible to write
x 2+ nx−16 in the form (x − α) (x − β), where α and β are integers. Therefore
x 2+ nx−16=x2 −( α + β ) x+ αβ and we require that αβ =−16. The possible integer values of α, β
are 1,−16; −1, 16; 2, −8; −2, 8; 4, –4 (we do not count −16, 1 as being distinct from 1, −16, for
instance).
As n = −(α + β), the possible values of n are 15, −15, 6, −6 and 0.

n−1
4. Find all the values of n for which both n and
4 n+1 are integers.
n−1 1 n−1 1
4 n+1 is an integer whenever the power is a multiple of 2 , including 0. So let n+1 = 2 k . Then
2n−2 2n+ 2 4 4
rearranging, k = = − =2− .
n+1 n+1 n+1 n+1
The only numbers which divide 4 are -4, -2, -1, 1, 2, 4. This gives values for n of −5 ,−3 ,−2 , 0 ,1 , 3
. However if n=0 we’d have a negative value of k . Thus n=−5 ,−3 ,−2 ,1 , 3.

5. For what integer values of x is x 2−2 x−2 a perfect square? (i.e. a square number)
2 2 2 2
x 2−2 x−2=k 2( x−1 ) −3=k ( x−1 ) −k =3( x +k −1 )( x−k−1 )=3 Note k > 0, although x
may be negative. The only factor pairs of 3 we need to consider are 3 ×1 and −1 ×−3 (since we
know x +k −1> x−k −1. These gives solutions for x of 3 and -1. So there was indeed a negative
solution!

6. Each of Paul and Jenny has a whole number of pounds.

He says to her “If you give me £3, I will have n times as much as you”.
She says to him: “If you give me £n , I will have 3 times as much as you.
Give that all these statements are true and that n is a positive integer, what are the possible values
for n ?
Using the information provided, our equations are:
p+3=n ( j−3 )( 1 ) j+ n=3 ( p−n )( 2 ) As per the advice in the lecture slides, if we have three

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 variables, we could use substitution to get a single equation in terms of two variables. Substituting
either n or j doesn’t yield nice equations we can factorise, but it works if we eliminate p:
4 n+ j 4 n+ j
p=nj−3 n−3 ( ¿ (1 ) ) p= (¿ (2)) =nj−3 n−33 nj−13 n− j=9
3 3
9 nj−39n−3 j=27( 3 n−1 )( 3 j−13 )=40Now we consider the factor pairs of 40 . Only four lead
to integer values for n and j . For example, using 3 n−1=2 and 3 j−13=20 , we get n=1, j=11.
Using our equation above to get p, we get four possible solutions:
( n , j , p )=( 1,11,5 ) , ( 2,7,5 ) , (3 ,6,6 ) , ( 7 , 5 ,11 )
7. Find the first five triangular numbers that are perfect squares.
1
The nth triangular number is the sum of the first n integers, with the formula n( n+ 1). Therefore
2
1
n ( n+1 )=k 2 for some k , and thus n ( n+1 ) =2 k 2. As discussed in the lecture slides, n and n+1
2
are coprime, and thus either n is a square and n+1 is twice a square, or n+1 is a square and n is
twice a square. It’s then simply a case of listing out the square numbers, and seeing which we can
either add or subtract one and then half to get a square number (we need only try odd square
numbers, since for even ones, adding or subtracting one gives an odd number, which can’t be halved).
We find this happens for 1 (since half of 2 is a square), 9 (8 is twice a square), 49 (50 is twice a square)
1
n( n+ 1) with n=1 ,8 , 49 ,288 , we get square
and 289 (288 is twice a square). Then using
2
triangular numbers of 1 ,36 ,1225 and 41616 .

Side note: I presumed I wasn’t the first person who wondered whether there were square triangular
numbers, so a quick Googling revealed that the problem was studied by Euler, who produced a
formula for generating these numbers, among more general problems. His method involved using a
suitable substitution to yield the Diophantine equation x 2−2 y 2=1, which is Pell’s equation. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_triangular_number for more details.

8. Prove that:
a. √4 n2+ 1 can never be an integer if n is an integer.
Informally, we could argue that 4 n2 is a square number (as 4 n2=2 n), and one more than
√
a square number is not going to be square itself. We could prove this by showing that the
difference between two square numbers is always greater than 1: ( n+1 )2−n2=2 n+1.
When n ≥ 1, 2 n+1>1. Thus there can be no two adjacent square numbers.
Note that if we consider 0 a square number, then the above expression would give a square.
b. And hence x−√ x is never an integer when x is an integer.
√
Suppose, as a proof by contradiction, that
2
√ x−√ x=n where n is a positive integer. Then
x−√ x=n .
Isolate the √ x on one side of the equation so that we can cleanly square again: x−n 2=√ x .
So x 2−2 x n2 +n 4=x .
Putting this in quadratic form:x 2+ (−2 n2−1 ) x+ n4 =0
Using the quadratic formula: x=
2 n2+ 1± √ 4 n 2+1
2
Thus x can’t possibly be an integer, because √ 4 n2+ 1 is not an integer.

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