Question

Mary chose an even $4$ -digit number $n.$ She wrote down all the divisors of $n$ in increasing order from left to right: $1, 2, \ldots, \frac{n}{2}, n.$ At some moment Mary wrote $323$ as a divisor of $n.$ What is the smallest possible value of the next divisor written to the right of $323?$

$324$

$330$

$340$

$361$

$646$

Answer: C

Concepts:factor least common multiple prime factorization

Difficulty rating: 2100

Solution:

Let $d$ be the next divisor after $323.$ If $\gcd(d,323)=1,$ then $n$ is a multiple of $323d>323^2>9999,$ impossible for a four-digit number. Thus $\gcd(d,323)>1.$

Since $323=17\cdot19,$ this gcd is at least $17.$ It also divides $d-323,$ so $d-323\ge17$ and hence $d\ge340.$

This bound is attained: for $n=6460=2^2\cdot5\cdot17\cdot19,$ both $323$ and $340$ are divisors. The lower bound shows there is no divisor between them. Thus the smallest possible next divisor is $340,$ and C is the correct answer.

2018 AMC 10B Problem 21

Answer: C

Difficulty rating: 2100

Solution:

Problem 21 in Other Years