2002 AIME I Problem 14

Attempt Problem 14 of the 2002 AIME I below, then check your answer against the professionally curated solution from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2002 AIME I solutions, or check the answer key.

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14.

A set S\mathcal{S} of distinct positive integers has the following property: for every integer xx in S,\mathcal{S}, the arithmetic mean of the set of values obtained by deleting xx from S\mathcal{S} is an integer. Given that 11 belongs to S\mathcal{S} and that 20022002 is the largest element of S,\mathcal{S}, what is the greatest number of elements that S\mathcal{S} can have?

Answer: 30
Concepts:modular arithmeticmeanextremal argument
Difficulty rating: 2920
Solution:

Let S\mathcal{S} have nn elements with sum S.S. The condition says Sxn1\frac{S - x}{n - 1} is an integer for every xS,x \in \mathcal{S}, which means every element is congruent to SS modulo n1.n - 1. In particular all elements are congruent to each other, and since 1S,1 \in \mathcal{S}, every element is 11 more than a multiple of n1.n - 1.

Then 20021(modn1),2002 \equiv 1 \pmod{n - 1}, so n1n - 1 divides 2001=32329.2001 = 3 \cdot 23 \cdot 29. Moreover the nn distinct elements run from 11 up to 20022002 in steps that are multiples of n1,n - 1, so 20021+(n1)2,2002 \ge 1 + (n - 1)^2, forcing n144.n - 1 \le 44. The largest divisor of 20012001 that is at most 4444 is 29,29, so n30.n \le 30.

Thirty is attainable: take the 2929 numbers 1,30,59,,8131, 30, 59, \ldots, 813 together with 2002.2002. All are 1(mod29),\equiv 1 \pmod{29}, and the sum of all 3030 is 301(mod29),\equiv 30 \equiv 1 \pmod{29}, so every deleted mean is an integer. The answer is 30.30.

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