Maths@Wordpandit - How To Find Number of Solutions of Equation Involving Difference of Perfect Squares

22/8/2014 Maths@Wordpandit How to find number of solutions of equation involving difference of perfect squares?
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HOW TO FIND NUMBER OF SOLUTIONS
OF EQUATION INVOLVING DIFFERENCE OF
PERFECT SQUARES?
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Now is the time for the actual post.
Out topic for today: How to find number of solutions of equation
involving difference of perfect squares?
Before solving questions based on this concept, let us understand the
absolute basics from where we build upon.
Equations involving difference and addition of two numbers, say x and y,
will give solution over the set of integers only when either both x and y
are odd or both are even. Let us understand this in 3 cases:
1. If x y =Odd and x + y = Even
Then adding these two equations,
We will get 2 x = odd
(We all know: 2 X any number= even, odd+even=odd)
Which implies x cannot be an integer.
Similarly y cannot be integer.
2. If x y =Even and x + y = Even
Then adding we will get 2 x = even
which implies x will be an integer.
Similarly y will be an integer.
3. If x y =Odd and x + y = Odd
Then adding we will get 2 x = even
which implies x will be an integer.
Similarly y will be an integer.
NOTE: Thus while solving these questions given below we will keep
in mind such equations will have solutions over the set of integers
only when either both x and y are odd or both are even.
We will categorize such problems into 4 parts
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CASE 1. Odd Number written as difference of two perfect squares
Example : Find the number of positive integer solutions of equation x
2

y
2
= 85 ?
Sol : We can write given equation as
(x- y)(x +y )= 85
Now we want x and y both to be integers and we are given odd number
on the right hand side of equation .So clearly both factors will be odd
For finding factors of any number we decompose that number into
prime factors
Since 85 = 5. 17
Factors of 5 are 5
0
, 5
1
(2 in number)
Factors of 17 are 17
0
, 17
1
(2 in number)
Thus total factors of 85 are obtained by multiplying the factors of 5 and
17 respectively
(i.e. 5
0
17
0
=1, 5
0
17
1
= 17, 5
1
17
0
=5 , 5
1
17
1
= 85)
Thus total no of factors of 85 are 4 .
But our aim is that we have to write 85 as a product of two factors and
Obviously difference of two positive integers is less than their sum i.e. x-
y < x+y.So clearly there are two ways we can write 85 as a product of
two factors i.e.
85 = 1 x 85 and 85 = 5 x 17
Thus the two possibilities are :
Either (x- y)= 1 and (x +y )= 85
Or (x- y)= 5 and (x +y )= 17.
So in above example answer is
(No of factors of 85)/2
i.e. 4/2 = 2
Answer : 2
NOTE:
Infact we can find the numbers also by solving the above equations x
=43 ,y =42 and x=11 ,y = 6.But we are generally asked to find number of
solutions only in such questions
GENERALIZATION
So in such cases we can generalize no of ways in which we can
write a given number as a product of two factors is : (No of factors
on the right hand side of given)/2
Questions for Practice:
1. Find the number of positive integer solutions of equation x
2
y
2
=
105 ?
Answer : 4
2
y
2
=
1815 ?
Answer : 6
2
y
2
=
1547 ?
Answer : 3
2
y
2
=
845 ?
Answer : 3
2
y
2
=
1215 ?
Answer : 10
CASE 2. Even Number which is not a multiple of 4 written as
difference of two perfect squares
2

y
2
= 66?
(x- y)(x +y )= 66
Now we want x and y both to be integers and we are given an even
number on the right hand side of equation which is not a multiple of
4.We know such equations will have solutions over the set of integers
only when either both x and y are odd or both are even.
But none of the above case is possible
Case 1 : If both x and y are odd then (x- y) is also even and (x +y ) is also
even i.e. both are multiple of 2
Which implies that Left Hand Side is a multiple of 4 but right hand side is
not .Hence no solution is possible in case both are odd.
So clearly both factors on the Left Hand Side cannot be odd
Case 2 : If both x and y are even then (x- y) is also even and (x +y ) is also
even i.e. both are multiple of 2
Which implies that Left Hand Side is a multiple of 4 but right hand side is
not .Hence no solution is possible in case both are even.
So clearly both factors on the Left Hand Side cannot be even
Answer: Zero
Generalisation: Thus every number of the form 4k + 2 (where k is
any integer ) can never be written as difference of perfect
squares.
Questions for Practice:
2
y
2
=
1098 ?
Answer : Zero
2
y
2
=
3462 ?
Answer : Zero
2
y
2
=
3782 ?
Answer : Zero
2
y
2
=
84546 ?
Answer : Zero
2
y
2
=
1213514 ?
Answer : Zero
CASE 3. Even Number which is a multiple of 4 written as difference
of two perfect squares
2

y
2
= 56?
(x- y)(x +y )= 56 (1)
number which is a multiple of 4 on the right hand side of equation .We
know such equations will have solutions over the set of integers only
when either both x and y are odd or both are even.
So clearly both factors will be even
Let us take (x- y) =2p
(x + y)= 2q
So finally putting these in (1) we get
4 p q = 56
p q = 14
So our question reduces to writing 14 as a product of two factors
prime factors
14 = 2
1
. 7
1
Factors of 2 are 2
0
, 2
1
(2 in number)
Factors of 7 are 7
0
, 7
1
(2 in number)
Thus total factors of 14 are obtained by multiplying the factors of 2 and 7
respectively
(i.e. 2
0
7
0
=1, 2
0
7
1
= 7, 2
1
7
0
=2 , 2
1
7
1
= 14)
Thus total no of factors of 14 are 4 .
So clearly there are 4 ways we can write 36 as a product of two factors
14 = 1 x 14
14 = 2 x 7
Answer: 2
GENERALIZATION
write a given number as a product of two factors is : (No of factors
on the right hand side of given after dividing by 4) /2.
Questions for Practise
2
y
2
=
67500 ?
Answer : 10
2
y
2
=
588 ?
Answer : 3
2
y
2
=10780 ?
Answer : 6
2
y
2
=
168 ?
Answer : 4
2
y
2
=720
?
Answer : 9
CASE 4. Perfect square written as difference of perfect squares
2

y
2
= 144?
(x- y)(x +y )= 144 (1)
number which is a multiple of 4 on the right hand side of equation .We
know such equations will have solutions over the set of integers only
when either both x and y are odd or both are even.
So clearly both factors will be even
Let us take (x- y) =2p
(x + y)= 2q
So finally putting these in (1) we get
4 p q = 144
p q = 36
So our question reduces to writing 36 as a product of two factors
prime factors
36 = 2
2
. 3
2
Factors of 2
2
are 2
0
, 2
1
,2
2
(3 in number)
Factors of 3
2
are 3
0
, 3
1
, 3
2
(3 in number)
Thus total factors of 36 are obtained by multiplying the factors of 2
2
and
3
2
respectively
(i.e. 2
0
3
0
=1, 2
0
3
1
=3, 2
0
3
2
=9, 2
1
3
0
=2, 2
1
3
1
=6, 2
1
3
2
=18, 2
2
3
0
=4, 2
2
3
1
=12,
2
2
3
2
=36)
Thus total no of factors of 36 are 3 X 3 =9 .(Also note factors of perfect
square are always odd )
Note : Both the factors cannot be 6 because if both (x- y)= 6 and (x +y
)=6 Then x = 6 and y= 0 which is not possible as we are talking of positive
integers. Since we cannot take both the factors 6 therefore remaining 8
factors can be written in 8/2 = 4 ways as a product of two factors.
So clearly there are 4 ways we can write 36 as a product of two factors
36 = 1 x 36
36 = 2 x 18
36 = 3 x 6
36 = 4 x 9
GENERALIZATION:
write a given number as a product of two factors is:
{(No of factors on the right hand side of given after dividing by 4)
1 }/2.
Questions for Practice
2
y
2
=
900 ?
Answer : 4
2
y
2
=
225 ?
Answer : 4
2
y
2
=324
?
Answer : 2
2
y
2
=
122500?
Answer :7
2
y
2
=19600 ?
Answer : 13
Note: This super awesome article is contributed by Puneet
Chhabra, one of the best Maths faculties across North India, and
that fact is not hard to imagine when you read this article. Puneet
will be coming up with more such awesome posts. Stay tuned for
some mathematical wizardry.
UNDER: ADVANCED MATHS | COMMENTS: 15 | TAGS:
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prashant
April 24, 2012 at 1:38 am Reply
thanks a lot amit..
yeah would do our best to keep it rolling:)
Amit Chhabra
April 23, 2012 at 5:57 pm Reply
Awesome work Puneet Chhabra..
Short cut plus concept clarification..Great.
Thanks a lot .
Will wait for other articles.
Like this post? Share it with your friends:
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Your thoughts here
prashant
ahh great we could be of such service..:)
Iconoclast
Great although, I never made a request for
maths & quant related stuff but always wanted
that. There are many who also feels so but never
make a request.
Please continue this initiative. Waiting for more
articles on quant & DI.
prashant
yeah we are doing our best to come up with more
awesome content..:)
Prateek
April 25, 2012 at 6:07 pm Reply
Great work sirdesperately waiting 4 ur more
upcoming posts..:)
hiccup
May 20, 2012 at 8:26 am Reply
@Prashant,
really nice article.
what if only the integral solution is asked and the
perfect square is 135^2
suppose the question is (a-35)(b-35)=135^2,then
find the number of integral solutions.
jaskiran
Charanjeet Singh
October 13, 2012 at 6:16 am Reply
Hi Jaskiran you are right the answer for 1215 is 6
and 1547 is 3. as it has facotr 1547= 17*13*7 so
total 6/2 =3
May 27, 2012 at 12:20 pm Reply
In question
5. Find the number of positive integer solutions of
equation x2 y2 = 1215 ?
Answer : 10
1215 can be broken into 5 * 3^5 .. so the number
of factors are 6 .. not 10 ??? plz tel me where am I
wrong..
same is the case in question.
3. Find the number of positive integer solutions of
equation x2 y2 = 1547 ?
Amit Mishra
June 4, 2012 at 4:43 pm Reply
Puneet Sir What an article!
Mukund
September 19, 2012 at 11:07 am Reply
Amazing write up, best part were the
generalizations.. Gonna be super useful.
Respect to you author.. ^_^
vivekanand3435
January 21, 2013 at 3:47 am Reply
great articletoo good:)
Venkatesh
This is immensely useful.. thanks for the wonderful
article.
I noticed a small error though. In the introduction:
Equations involving difference and addition of
two numbers, say x and y, will give solution over
the set of integers only when either both x and y
are odd or both are even.
it be both Sum and difference of x and y that
should be even or odd rather than x and y both
being even or odd for solution over the set of
integers.
correct me if Im wrong.
Aadesh Saxena
June 4, 2013 at 9:48 am Reply
Really very impressive. The Article is very plausible.
I am happy to see that how artistically the base
concept is used to explain the topic.
looking forward for few more
Aravinth
October 26, 2013 at 10:00 am Reply
Simply superb sir..!! its very useful
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