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2023/24 AHSMC Part 1 Problem 7

Problem 7 of 16

What is the number of integers mm with 1≤m≤20231 \le m \le 2023 for which m(m+5)/6m(m+5)/6 is an integer?

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Solution

For every integer mm, either mm or m+5m+5 is even, so m(m+5)m(m+5) is always even. To have m(m+5)m(m+5) divisible by 66 we need only divisibility by 33. Either 3∣m3 \mid m, and there are ⌊2023/3⌋=674\lfloor 2023/3 \rfloor = 674 such mm between 11 and 20232023; or 3∣(m+5)3 \mid (m+5), i.e. m=1,4,7,…,2023m = 1,4,7,\ldots,2023, of which there are 675675. The total is 674+675=1349674+675 = 1349. The answer is (D).

Alternatively, writing m=6k+tm = 6k+t with 0≤t≤50 \le t \le 5, the quantity m(m+5)/6m(m+5)/6 is an integer precisely when t∈{0,1,3,4}t \in \{0,1,3,4\}. Thus there are 46(2022)+1=1349\frac{4}{6}(2022)+1 = 1349 such values.