VIEW THE MOBILE VERSION of www.mathpuzzle.ca Informational Site Network Informational
Privacy
Home Top Rated Puzzles Most Viewed Puzzles All Puzzle Questions Random Puzzle Question Search


THE SULTAN'S ARMY.

(Money Puzzles)
A certain Sultan wished to send into battle an army that could be formed
into two perfect squares in twelve different ways. What is the smallest
number of men of which that army could be composed? To make it clear to
the novice, I will explain that if there were 130 men, they could be
formed into two squares in only two different ways--81 and 49, or 121
and 9. Of course, all the men must be used on every occasion.


Answer:

The smallest primes of the form 4n + 1 are 5, 13, 17, 29, and 37, and
the smallest of the form 4n - 1 are 3, 7, 11, 19, and 23. Now, primes of
the first form can always be expressed as the sum of two squares, and in
only one way. Thus, 5 = 4 + 1; 13 = 9 + 4; 17 = 16 + 1; 29 = 25 + 4; 37
= 36 + 1. But primes of the second form can never be expressed as the
sum of two squares in any way whatever.
In order that a number may be expressed as the sum of two squares in
several different ways, it is necessary that it shall be a composite
number containing a certain number of primes of our first form. Thus, 5
or 13 alone can only be so expressed in one way; but 65, (5 x 13), can
be expressed in two ways, 1,105, (5 x 13 x 17), in four ways, 32,045, (5
x 13 x 17 x 29), in eight ways. We thus get double as many ways for
every new factor of this form that we introduce. Note, however, that I
say _new_ factor, for the _repetition_ of factors is subject to another
law. We cannot express 25, (5 x 5), in two ways, but only in one; yet
125, (5 x 5 x 5), can be given in two ways, and so can 625, (5 x 5 x 5 x
5); while if we take in yet another 5 we can express the number as the
sum of two squares in three different ways.
If a prime of the second form gets into your composite number, then that
number cannot be the sum of two squares. Thus 15, (3 x 5), will not
work, nor will 135, (3 x 3 x 3 x 5); but if we take in an even number of
3's it will work, because these 3's will themselves form a square
number, but you will only get one solution. Thus, 45, (3 x 3 x 5, or 9 x
5) = 36 + 9. Similarly, the factor 2 may always occur, or any power of
2, such as 4, 8, 16, 32; but its introduction or omission will never
affect the number of your solutions, except in such a case as 50, where
it doubles a square and therefore gives you the two answers, 49 + 1 and
25 + 25.
Now, directly a number is decomposed into its prime factors, it is
possible to tell at a glance whether or not it can be split into two
squares; and if it can be, the process of discovery in how many ways is
so simple that it can be done in the head without any effort. The number
I gave was 130. I at once saw that this was 2 x 5 x 13, and consequently
that, as 65 can be expressed in two ways (64 + 1 and 49 + 16), 130 can
also be expressed in two ways, the factor 2 not affecting the question.
The smallest number that can be expressed as the sum of two squares in
twelve different ways is 160,225, and this is therefore the smallest
army that would answer the Sultan's purpose. The number is composed of
the factors 5 x 5 x 13 x 17 x 29, each of which is of the required form.
If they were all different factors, there would be sixteen ways; but as
one of the factors is repeated, there are just twelve ways. Here are the
sides of the twelve pairs of squares: (400 and 15), (399 and 32), (393
and 76), (392 and 81), (384 and 113), (375 and 140), (360 and 175), (356
and 183), (337 and 216), (329 and 228), (311 and 252), (265 and 300).
Square the two numbers in each pair, add them together, and their sum
will in every case be 160,225.










Random Questions

The Languishing Maiden.
The Guarded Chessboard
The Tube Inspector's Puzzle.
Unicursal and Route Problems
The Archery Butt
PUZZLING TIMES AT SOLVAMHALL CASTLE
The Rookery.
The Guarded Chessboard
The Pebble Game.
Puzzle Games.
The Labourer's Puzzle.
Money Puzzles
Bishops In Convocation.
Chessboard Problems
Defective Observation.
Money Puzzles
The Three Teacups
THE SQUIRE'S CHRISTMAS PUZZLE PARTY
The Eccentric Cheesemonger.
Moving Counter Problem
Ancient Chinese Puzzle.
The Guarded Chessboard
The Riddle Of The Frogs' Ring
THE STRANGE ESCAPE OF THE KING'S JESTER
The Spider And The Fly
MISCELLANEOUS PUZZLES
The Victoria Cross Puzzle.
Moving Counter Problem
A Legal Difficulty.
Money Puzzles