1985 AMC 12 Problem 26

Attempt Problem 26 of the 1985 AMC 12 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 1985 AMC 12 solutions, or check the answer key.

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26.

Find the least positive integer nn for which n135n+6\frac{n-13}{5n+6} is a non-zero reducible fraction.

4545

6868

155155

226226

none of these

Answer: E
Concepts:greatest common divisormodular arithmetic
Difficulty rating: 2130
Small Hint:

Any common divisor of n13n-13 and 5n+65n+6 also divides a suitable linear combination

Big Hint:

Compute (5n+6)5(n13)(5n+6)-5(n-13)

Solution:

Euclid’s algorithm gives gcd(n13,5n+6)=gcd(n13,71). \begin{aligned} &\gcd(n-13,5n+6)\\ &\quad=\gcd(n-13,71). \end{aligned} Since 7171 is prime, the nonzero fraction is reducible exactly when n13n-13 is a nonzero multiple of 71.71. The least positive possibility is n=13+71=84,n=13+71=84, which is not among the four numerical choices.

Thus the correct answer is E.

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