Hard problem with fractions I can't solve the following problem. A person is x years old. Find his

sviraju6d

sviraju6d

Answered question

2022-06-22

Hard problem with fractions
I can't solve the following problem.
A person is x years old. Find his age if the following is true. In a group of x people each one started taking pictures of each of the others. At some point we know that more than 1 2 of the people has taken exactly 1 2 of all of their pictures (which are x 1 for every one of them), at the same time more than 1 3 of them has taken exactly 1 3 of all of their pictures, and at the same time more than 1 7 of them has taken exactly 1 7 of their pictures.

Answer & Explanation

hildiadau0o

hildiadau0o

Beginner2022-06-23Added 21 answers

From the pictures taken we know 2, 3 and 7 are all divisors of x 1. The smallest number for which this true is 2*3*7 = 42. Hence the smallest x is 43. The next possible x would be 2 * 42 + 1 = 85.
Now 1 2 of 42 is 21, 1 3 of 42 is 14 and 1 7 of 42 is 6. Since more than half,a third, a seventh of the people have taken their pictures, the minimum number of people would be ( 21 + 1 ) + ( 14 + 1 ) + ( 6 + 1 ) = 45 which excludes 43 as a solution.
In case of x = 85 we get ( 42 + 1 ) + ( 28 + 1 ) + ( 12 + 1 ) = 85 , which suits perfectly.
I guess we can safely assume the person isn't 127 years old.

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