2002 AIME II Problem 5

Attempt Problem 5 of the 2002 AIME II 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 II solutions, or check the answer key.

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5.

Find the sum of all positive integers a=2n3m,a = 2^n 3^m, where nn and mm are non-negative integers, for which a6a^6 is not a divisor of 6a.6^a.

Answer: 42
Concepts:divisibilityprime factorizationcasework
Difficulty rating: 2430
Solution:

With a=2n3m,a = 2^n 3^m, 6aa6=2a3a26n36m,\frac{6^a}{a^6} = \frac{2^a 3^a}{2^{6n} 3^{6m}}, which fails to be an integer exactly when 6n>a6n \gt a or 6m>a.6m \gt a.

If m,n1,m, n \ge 1, then a32n6na \ge 3 \cdot 2^n \ge 6n (since 2n2n2^n \ge 2n) and similarly a23m6m,a \ge 2 \cdot 3^m \ge 6m, so no such aa works. If m=0,m = 0, the condition is 2n<6n,2^n \lt 6n, which holds for n=1,2,3,4,n = 1, 2, 3, 4, giving a=2,4,8,16.a = 2, 4, 8, 16. If n=0,n = 0, the condition is 3m<6m,3^m \lt 6m, which holds for m=1,2,m = 1, 2, giving a=3,9.a = 3, 9. (For a=1a = 1 the condition fails.)

The sum is 2+4+8+16+3+9=42.2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 3 + 9 = 42.

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