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Brainsteem Mathematics Challenges: Factorial Sum by rycharde

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· @rycharde ·
$18.01
Brainsteem Mathematics Challenges: Factorial Sum
<center>https://i.imgur.com/VDYtVVH.png</center>


Find all solutions to the equation

2<sup>n</sup> = a! + b! + c!

in positive integers a, b, c and n. Show your proof.

(Here, ! means "factorial" and, if the superscript does not show properly, the left-hand side is 2^n.)

Originally from IrMO 2001 Paper 1 Q1.


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The first correct answer and further interesting comments will be rewarded with an upvote.

Enjoy!

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More Brainsteems coming soon...

 
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vote details (129)
@gifty-e ·
Hahahahahahaha.
Laughing at myself, I should just keep calm and learn from the right answer.  
This is *back to school for me*.
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@postpromoter ·
re-rycharde-brainsteem-mathematics-challenges-factorial-sum-20180326t161726799z
You got a 4.48% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @rycharde!

Want to promote your posts too? Check out the [Steem Bot Tracker website](https://steembottracker.com) for more info. If you would like to support the development of @postpromoter and the bot tracker please [vote for @yabapmatt for witness!](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=yabapmatt&approve=1)
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@ruoxi.wang · (edited)
$0.07
Interesting problem, here is my solution:

Firstly, 2^n is an even number, therefore a!, b! and c! must be either: 3 even numbers, or: 1 even and 2 odd numbers.

Factorials are all even except 1!

Path 1: 3 even numbers
We can prove that a=2 (1 < a < 3) or b=2 or c=2, otherwise the sum will be 6x (common factor of 3!) and 2^n is never divisible by 3.

Path 1-1: a=2 and b=2 and c=2
2!+2!+2!=6 is not power of 2

Path 1-2: a=2 and b=2
4+c! (c>=3) = 2^n
=> c!/4+1=2^m (m=n-2)
We can prove that c<4 otherwise c!/4 is even and c!+1 is odd number (2^m cannot be odd).
The only candidate is 3
2!+2!+3!=10 is not power of 2.

Path 1-3:
a=2 and b>=3 and c>=3
=> 2+6x+6y=2^n (x=a!/3! and y=b!/3!)
=> 3(x+y)+1=2^m (m=n-1)
We can prove that x+y must be odd and therefore b=3 or c=3 (otherwise both are divisible by 4
To simplify: 2+6+c!=2^n
=> 8+c!=2^n
=> c!/8+1=2^m (m=n-3)
We can prove that c<6 otherwise c!/8 is even and c!/8+1 is odd.
Candidates are 3,4,5
~~2!+3!+3!=14~~
~~3!+3!+3!=18~~
~~4!+3!+3!=36~~
~~None of them is power of 2~~

Updated flawed part after @rycharde pointing out missing solutions:
2!+3!+3!=14, not a power of 2
2!+3!+4!=32 (2^5)
2!+3!+5!=128 (2^7)

Path 2: 1+1+c!=2^n (2 even numbers)
then c!/2+1=2^m (m=n-1), we can prove that c<4 otherwise c!/2 is even number and c!/2+1 is odd number.
Candidates are c=2, 3, both satisfies the equation:
1!+1!+2!=4 (2^2)
1!+1!+3!=8 (2^3)

Therefore, all possible solutions are:
1!+1!+2!=2^2
1!+1!+3!=2^3
2!+3!+4!=2^5
2!+3!+5!=2^7
👍  ,
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vote details (2)
@quochuy ·
Too complicated for me lol
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@rycharde ·
Very good, and legit method, but you've missed some solutions!
Upvoted all the same!
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@ruoxi.wang ·
$0.08
Hi, @rycharde, thank you for the problem and response. I should have triple checked before answering, especially when it was done by tapping solution on a phone and right before bed :p

The path 1-3 is flawed:
The last bit should be
2!+3!+3!=14, not a power of 2
2!+3!+4!=32 (2^5)
2!+3!+5!=128 (2^7)

Now the solution should be completed.

Thank you again for the interesting problem, I really enjoyed my time solving it ^_^
👍  
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vote details (1)
@rycharde ·
Thanks for the @steemstem upvote - unexpected surprise!
:-)
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@sammy111100 ·
$0.08
If you write them in binary:
1!=0000000001
2!=0000000010
3!=0000000110
4!=0000011000
5!=0001111000
6!=1011010000

To be a power of 2 there has to be only one 1.
You can't use the same number 3 times since then a the first one from left on would remain at it's place and there would be more ones.
After 6! they aren't made out of consecutive ones and you won't find any 2 numbers with the same "0 gaps" since they would have to be a power of 2 minus a smaler power of 2 and this isn't posible for 6! or higher. So you're not able to clean this up.
So you can only work with 5! or less.

If we look at the numbers
1!=0000000001
1!=0000000001
2!=0000000010

1!=0000000001
1!=0000000001
3!=0000000110

2!=0000000010
3!=0000000110
4!=0000011000

2!=0000000010
3!=0000000110
5!=0001111000

are the only ones working.
👍  
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vote details (1)
@rycharde ·
Not seen this way before :-)
thanks, upvoted!
👍  
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vote details (1)
@samest ·
The positive integer are 2,3,5 and 7 and this has a common difference of 2 without considering the first term which the the only number given in the equation above.

Here is the solution.
Where a = 2 , b = 3 and c = 5
a! + b! + c! = (2*1)+(3*2*1)+(5*4*3*2*1)
a! + b! + c! =  (2) + (6) + (120)
a! + b! + c! = 128

From equation 2^n = 128 where 128 can be converted to power of 2 which is 2^7

Therefore n = 7, a = 2, b = 3 and c = 5

Thanks for this brainstorming.
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