Find the sum of all positive integers n for which 3 n − 4 , 4 n − 5 , 5 n − 3 are all prime.
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If n is odd, then 5 n − 3 is even. If n is even, then 3 n − 4 is even. It is therefore not possible that all three numbers are odd.
However, all prime numbers are odd, except for 2. Therefore one of the three numbers must be two. For n > 1 , the first value is the smallest. Thus the only solution has 3 n − 4 = 2 ⟹ n = 2 .
Notice that if n is odd then 5 n − 3 is never prime. To prove this assertion, let n = 2k+1 (as n is odd) to obtain: 5 ( 2 k + 1 ) − 3 = 1 0 k + 2 = 2 ( 5 k + 1 ) → 5 k + 1 = 1 ⇒ k = 0 ⇒ n = 1 s o 3 n − 4 = − 1 < 0 Hence, 2 is the only option and it is indeed a solution.
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Notice that their sum is even. This implies that one of them must be 2. Checking the three cases, we see the only possibility for n is 2